Candied Orange Peel

I was trying to find candied orange peel at the store recently and then it hit me, just make it. It's easy. This is great for chopping and using in cookies, breads, cakes or pastries. It's also really nice dipped in chocolate (I've seen people give it as gifts). The sweetness with just a hint of bitterness (depending on the orange) is really delicious. Plus it works with lemons and other citrus fruit too.

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

Makes about 2 cups

2 large oranges (preferably organic), 1/4 inch of top and bottom cut off

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 cup superfine sugar

1.       Cut peel on each orange into 4 vertical segments. Remove each segment (including white pith) in 1 piece. Cut peel into 1/4-inch-wide strips. 

2.       Cook orange strips in large pot of boiling water for 15 minutes; drain and rinse. Repeat two more times (blanching helps remove some of the bitterness).

3.       Bring 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water to boil in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peel. Return to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until peel is very soft, about 45 minutes. Drain.

4.       Toss peel and 1 cup superfine sugar on rimmed baking sheet, separating strips. Lift peel from sugar; transfer to sheet of foil. Let stand until coating is dry, 1 to 2 days. Can be made ahead; wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.

adapted from Bon Appétit, December 2008 by Damon Lee Fowler

oranges with tops and bottoms cut off

oranges cut into quarters

I used a melon baller to remove even more of the pith
(peeling the orange with a vegetable peeler in the
first place would probably also work).

This is totally optional--if you like your orange peel
with that chewy, sort of jelly-like layer, just skip it
(although you might want to blanch it one more time
to help remove even more of the bitterness).

pith scraped off

orange peels in boiling water
I forgot to cut them into strips before, so I did it after.

I ended up using only one orange (my daughter wanted the other one
for a snack and I didn't need that much candied orange peel anyway).

strips in sugar syrup
(It looks brown because I used evaporated cane sugar.)

candied orange peel draining

After I watched the orange sugar syrup swirl down the
drain, it occurred to me that it might be nice to save it
and use it to sweeten something else, like maybe lemonade,
iced tea or sorbet. Oh well (classic).

about to roll around in the superfine sugar

coated with sugar

.