Double Orange Dark Chocolate Bars
The Candy Store scores big with this amazing new arrival
I’ll confess to being a bit concerned when we began buying chocolate bars from Mirzam in Dubai many years ago. I mean, chocolate made in a desert capital? Over the years, I came to realize though that I had nothing at all to be concerned about—the Mirzam chocolates have been uniformly excellent. In fact, they have become some of my favorites over the last five or six years! Each new arrival seems especially special, so good that I have a hard time imagining that Kathy Johnston and the rest of the Mirzam crew can top it. And yet, time after time, they do. This new Double Orange Dark Chocolate bar, which came to town for the first time a few weeks ago, is no exception. I’m already on my third one in three weeks!
The bottom line is that Kathy Johnston and the Mirzam team are, quite simply, crafting some of the best bean-to-bar chocolate around. The flavors are lovely, complex, and compelling. And the artwork on the labels, created by the remarkable Romanian artist, Aitch—is equally lovely! Of this new creation, Kathy shares:
I had called this one, while it was under development, the “Double Orange Bar,” because it has the crispy orange toffee pieces, as well as the candied navel oranges that we sell separately. The origin of making it happen was after a collaboration request from the team at Z&Z, a Palestinian restaurant/bakery in Washington D.C. Their father comes from the town of Yaffa, which is famous for its connection to oranges; and so this was the place where I started to think about the recipe. It was originally created as a short-term pop-up kinda recipe; but I love it so much. I love oranges with chocolate, I think they are deeeeelicious together!
The Double Orange Dark Chocolate bar is made with a blend of a couple of cacao origins. It has Indian beans from the south of the country, which are known for their complex, fruit-forward, nutty flavor, and Dominican cacao, which is regularly recognized for being beautifully balanced and quite creamy. Add in the crispy orange toffee and gild the citrus lily by adding bits of Mirzam’s dark chocolate-covered oranges, and man oh man, do you have a magical bar.
Swing by the Candy Store soon to score some of this special chocolate. Complex flavors, great balance between the 62% dark chocolate and the orange, and a lovely finish. The label, like everything Mirzam does, is as amazing as the chocolate inside! It’s a great way to make any chocolate lover’s day!
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