White Chocolates with Rosehip Fondant

Autumn brings an array of wonderful wild fruits. These creamy white chocolates have an uplifting and slightly tart rosehip filling. These make great presents and are another way to preserve the goodness and colour of rosehips.

Gathering rosehips on a foraging course in Cornwall

Have you seen these wonderful, big rosehips? Maybe on the beach, in gardens or escaped from gardens and in waste places? Native to East Asia and naturalised in Europe and North America, these rosehips have relatively thick flesh and are perfect for blending into a fondant chocolate filling.

White Chocolates with Rosehip fondant recipe

Makes 15

Ingredients

200 g white chocolate
25 g rosa rugosa flesh (or 80 g whole Japanese rosehips)
50 g thick double cream
1 dessertspoon unrefined icing sugar (optional)

Beach rosehips on a foraging walk in Cornwall

Finely chop or grate the chocolate and put 50g aside in a small to medium sized bowl. Place a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan with a little water in. Make sure the water is not touching the bowl. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and add the chocolate into the bowl. Once the water is simmering, the chocolate will start to melt, stir to help dissolve the last lumps and remove from the heat. Do not overcook as this will make the chocolate grainy. Pour into clean silicone chocolate moulds, filling each mould to the brim. Lay out a piece of greaseproof paper and turn the mould upside down, over the paper and allow the excess chocolate to drip out. Turn the moulds upright and leave to cool by placing in the fridge. Also leave the greaseproof paper to dry, as you can reuse this chocolate later.

Seeing the seeds inside the rosa rugosa fruit

Next, remove the rosehip flesh (see Rosa Rosehip Fruit Leather) and finely chop or put in a blender with the cream. Place the cream butter and rosehip flesh in a small saucepan over a low heat and heat until the butter has melted, and cream is starting to simmer at the edges. Do not boil; the mixture just needs to be hot enough to melt the remaining chocolate. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and leave for 1 minutes. Stir together well and leave to cool until firm (about 1 hour in the fridge).

Using a teaspoon, spoon the firm mixture into each chocolate mould, about ½ to ¾ full. Next collect all the chocolate that dripped onto the greaseproof paper and melt it, using the same method as before. Pour the melted chocolate over the filled chocolate moulds and gently pass a soft spatula over the tops to flatten the chocolate layer. Allow to cool naturally or place in the fridge (for about 1 hour). When firm, take the chocolates out of the moulds. Keeps for about a week, best in the fridge.