I wanted to make these for you and post them before Christmas, but it just didn't happen. I've been eating so many oranges lately - the California Navel oranges have been so incredible for several weeks now - that I hated to see all those peels go to waste. This seemed like a good time for Orangettes.
Orangettes are candied orange peels that are dipped in chocolate. I think dark chocolate gives the nicest flavor with the orange. They are a great little snack and actually go so nicely with a cup of spiced tea.
The orangettes are not hard to make, but they do take time to cut the oranges into strips. Once this is done, you simply blanch the strips three times in boiling water to help remove any bitter taste. You then simmer them for about an hour in sugar water, roll them in sugar (I like to use coarse sugar) and let them dry. The next day, you dip them in chocolate - the fun part! Little bags of them make great little gifts.
Orangettes
for a printable recipe, click here
Ingredients:
- 6 large navel oranges
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
- 9 ounces of bittersweet chocolate (approximately)
It's best to take two days to make these peels. Prepare the peels and roll them in sugar the first day. Leave them overnight to dry well before dipping them in chocolate the next day.
Instructions:
Prepare peels: There are a couple of ways to peel these oranges to get the strips. Try both ways to see which works best for you.
Method #1: Cut ends off of oranges. With a sharp paring knife, score the entire length from cut end to cut end into strips. Set orange on cutting board and run your knife down between the white pith and the flesh of the orange. Turn orange over and do the same on the other side. Remove strips. Take the tip of the paring knife and remove any flesh and some of the pith from the strips.
Method #2: Cut ends off of oranges. With a sharp paring knife, score orange from cut end to cut end on opposite sides of orange. Insert knife between the white pith of the orange and the flesh of the orange and slice around the entire orange. Turn orange over and do this on the other side. Remove peel from flesh. Lay peel on cutting board and slice into strips. Remove any additional flesh from peels.
Method #1 - Score the skin into strips
Remove strips from orange
Remove flesh from strips
Method #2 - Cut the peel from orange and then cut into strips
Take the flesh of the oranges and squeeze through strainer or juicer until you get 1 cup of orange juice. Set aside.
Blanch peels: Fill a medium sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. Add the orange peels and blanch for two minutes. Drain. Add fresh water and bring to a boil again. Plunge the orange peels back in and blanch again for two minutes. Drain. Repeat process one more time.
In a medium sauce pan, bring the 3 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water and orange juice to a boil. Add orange peels and simmer on low for about one hour, uncovered. Drain the peels and roll in the turbinado sugar. Set sugared peel on a rack to dry overnight.
The next day, melt the chocolate and dip your candied orange peels. Lay them on wax paper until the chocolate cools. These keep in a covered plastic container for quite a while in the fridge. When they are cold, the chocolate may turn a little pale but if you bring them to room temperature, they darken up again.
And a sneak peek at a surprise project on my needles:
