Then there was Monday's salted caramel vodka hot chocolate. Apparently the way to your hearts is a tiny grater. Who knew?
I feel a little bad then about following up those two star recipes with something as prosaic as candied orange peel. I promise there will be more cake next week. And maybe a cocktail or two.
Candied orange peel has a special place in my heart though. There's nothing that says Christmas to me like the heady combination of sugar, dried fruit and more sugar.
Besides, being able to make candied orange peel is a fairly useful skill. Sometimes, I use a zester to make little strands of peel which can then be scattered over cakes. My mother loves candied peel dipped in dark chocolate. Personally, I like to roll it in sugar and enjoy the crunchy outside and the mellow citrus flavour of the peel.
I hope all my lovely American readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It is times like these when I am glad I'm not American because I can't help feeling that my birthday (on sunday - don't worry, you still have time to buy me a present) would get somewhat overshadowed. I will, however, think of you enviously when I am stuck at work tomorrow and you are all buried under a mound of turkey and pumpkin pie.
~
Candied orange peel
Makes the quantity you see in the pictures
Ingredients
Makes the quantity you see in the pictures
Ingredients
- Peel of 1 orange
- Cold water
- 225g caster sugar
Cooking Directions
- Peel the skin off of your orange, trying to avoid the white pith. Chop into desired shapes.
- Put in a large saucepan, fill with cold water and bring it to the boil. Drain the zest and repeat the process two more times to remove the bitterness.
- Put a cup (240ml) of water in a pan with the sugar and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer over a very low heat until it starts to become a bit more syrupy. Add the peel and cook for 30-45 minutes until soft. Do not stir!
- Drain the peel, roll in more sugar if you want, and allow to dry for several hours.
26 comments:
Oooh, snap! I feel like I'm in with the cool kids now...
Love the look of your peel. Mine is ahem, rustic, in comparison. I'm using mine in a Christmas Day dessert hopefully. And maybe a stollen beforehand, but I'm having to resist munching it in front of the telly mainly!
@miss south - Oh I completely meant to say something on twitter when I saw your post about candied peel the other day but forgot because I'm an idiot! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous btw.
I have a great little zester from Divertimenti that makes these thin little strips which is so much easier than chopping it up.
I hate peeling oranges because of picking off the pith, but if I don't have to worry about that, I might give this a go.
@Liz - I hate peeling them too. I have a handy little zester thing so I don't have to get all messy!
@Liz - Oops, actually just realised I made a mistake in the direction. You need to try and avoid the pith not, not avoid it. Sorry about that...
i feel really queasy about zest and peel of citrus fruits coz I think of all the pesticides on it. but if I ever get my hands on some organic oranges, this is what i would possibly make.
@Lizzie - Oh you definitely want to use organic oranges in this case and wash them well anyway. Otherwise, yeah, goodness knows what you're eating!
Vodka hot chocolate?!? :) I'm so glad I found your blog! This will likely be a rock star in my holiday season. I've never made candied orange peels before, but yours look amazing! Inspired to include this in my season for sure.
@Baking Serendipity - I'm very glad you found it too! I don't think I can drink normal hot chocolate now that I've found alcoholic hot chocolate ;)
Beauuutiful pictures, gah I want to go about and make this just to get the get that warm feeling that your photographs have.
Hahah and I laughed about the mini grater thing.
@themoveablefeasts - Aw, thank you so much! That's such a lovely thing to say :)
Try being closer to the celebrating country and still having to drag my butt to work ;) I think your candied orange peels look brilliant darling! Although a cocktail or two next week wouldn't hurt either. Happy American Thanksgiving x
I love oranges, and I love using orange zest, but never thought of making candied orange peel. Now I want to make some, maybe even dip in chocolate? :)
I'm totally making this! I could use it in so many recipes!!
These pictures are gorgeous. I can imagine so many ways to use the candied orange peel: cookies, cakes, muffins, snacking ;)
Happy Early Birthday!
Your last two posts were pretty epic (still not made those Heston cookies but they are on my list!) and I was one of the mini grater lovers (!) but this looks just as good. Super christmassy and not the kind of thing I'd normally bother to make, so it's great to have a recipe :-)
Happy birthday for Sunday by the way!
@Elaina - Gosh, that must be even more annoying! I hope you have the best day at work ever just to make up for it ;)
@Bianca - Definitely dip some in chocolate! You can use other fruits too - I think sharper fruits like lemon or grapefruit work really well with white chocolate.
@Lauren - It is such a useful thing to have lying around because it makes anything that you put it on look so elegant!
@Kyleen - Snacking is definitely my favourite way to use it but I do have another recipe with it coming up next week. And thank you very much for the early birthday wishes :)
@thelittleloaf - I love how christmassy the flat smelt when I was making this! Thanks for the birthday wishes too :)
oh i am so making this!
What a great food week for you! Have a lovely weekend and happy birthday.
these look so pretty! I've just found your blog and i love it!
Im so upset that my comment didnt come through - commeting from I=phones sucks! Anyway what I really wanted to say was that these would be AMAZING on top of melting chocolate pudding (dont you think?). And also happy birthday! I saw your cinnamon cocktail tweet - sounds lovely. Nothing beats the feeling of joy of having a cocktail on your birthday! x
@Taryne - I hope you like it!
@leaf - Thank you very much, I had a lovely birthday!
@Maria - Thank you so mcuh!
@Em - I always have problems with commenting on my phone, it drives me mad. Thank you for your birthday wishes, I had a lovely weekend!
Kathryn, It's so nice to see a an unusual recipe on a blog (that's a compliment by the way!!). I know where I'll be getting the decoration for my chocolate and orange cake x
Candied orange peel...this could be so useful. Beautiful too! I hope your birthday was fabulous!
@Claire - Thanks very much!
@Cassie - I had a great birthday, thank you :)
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