Candied Orange Peel Cookies Food

CANDIED ORANGE

Steps:

• Cut tops and bottoms off of the orange and score the orange into quarters, cutting down only into the peel and not into the fruit. Peel the skin and pith of the orange in large pieces, use the orange for another recipe. Cut the peel into strips about 1/4-inch wide. Put the orange peel in a large saucepan with cold water to cover, bring to a boil over high heat. Then pour off the water. Repeat 1 or 2 more times depending up how assertive you want the orange peels to be. (Test kitchen liked the texture of a 3 time blanch best, it also mellowed the bitterness. But it is a matter of preference.) Remove the orange peels from the pan.
• Whisk the sugar with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 to 9 minutes (If you took the sugar's temperature with a candy thermometer it would be at the soft thread stage, 230 to 234 degrees F.) Add the peels and simmer gently, reducing heat to retain a simmer. Cook until the peels get translucent, about 45 minutes. Resist the urge to stir the peels or you may introduce sugar crystals into the syrup. If necessary, swirl the pan to move the peels around. Drain the peels, (save the syrup for ice tea.) Roll the peels in sugar and dry on a rack, for 4 to 5 hours. Return to the sugar to store.
• Cook's Note: One way to use orange peels is to stuff a dried date with a piece of orange peel and almond, then dip the entire thing into dark chocolate.

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

Steps:

• Slice the ends off the oranges and discard. Cut the oranges into quarters, then cut off all but 1/2 inch of the pulp, which keeps the peel from becoming bitter as it cooks. Cut the quarters into thin slices.
• Place the orange slices in a 6-quart saucepan and cover with cold water. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain off the water and repeat this process with fresh cold water two more times.
• After the third boil, drain the orange slices, rinse them in cold water, and remove any pulp that is still attached, making sure there are no pieces of pulp stuck to them, (for looks only). In the saucepan, combine the orange slices, 3 cups of the sugar, and the orange liqueur, and cook over low heat until the sugar is dissolved (about 5-10 minutes), stirring constantly.
• Cover pot and cook 10 minutes to steam down the sugar granules on the side of the pot, stirring every few minutes. Continue to simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring frequently. Most of the sugar will be absorbed by the peel as it cooks. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately begin the next step.
• Place the remaining 3 cups sugar on a sheet of waxed paper, I use a cookie sheet with a rim). Roll spoonfuls of the orange slices in the sugar, separating the slices to coat them completely.
• Transfer the slices onto racks and let them air-dry (20 to 30 minutes).
• In a tightly covered container, the peel will keep for 2 to 3 months in the refrigerator.

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

Steps:

• Using a vegetable peeler, cut the orange part of the peel from the stem end of the orange down to the navel end, forming long 3/4 to 1-inch-wide strips. Bring a heavy small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the peels and cook for 1 minute. Drain and then rinse the peels under cold water. Repeat cooking the peels in the saucepan with fresh boiling water and rinsing under cold water.
• Stir the sugar and 1/2 cup of fresh water in a heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil. Add the orange peels and simmer over medium-low heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the peels to a sheet of parchment paper to dry slightly, about 1 hour.
• Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the chocolate in a small bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Dip 1 1/2-inches of each candied orange peel into the chocolate then place them on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 15 minutes.

CANDIED ORANGE (OR GRAPEFRUIT OR LEMON) PEELS

Steps:

• If using non-organic fruit, wash peels WELL before peeling.Cut the peel on each fruit into quarters. Pull the peel off in these quarter sections. Slice peel into 1/4 inch-wide strips.
• In a saucepan add salt and cover with cold water. Boil 15 minutes, pour off water and add fresh water. Boil 20 minutes. Change water again and boil another 20 minutes.
• Drain and cover with 2 1/2 cups sugar and 1 cup water.
• Simmer, stirring constantly, until all the syrup has boiled away. Do not let the peels scorch.
• Spread on wax paper. Roll peels in remaining sugar. Let dry.
• Store in an airtight container. Keeps one week or can be frozen.

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

Steps:

• Using a very sharp potato peeler, peel the rind from 3 navel oranges. Do your best to get only the orange color as the white part is the pith and can be bitter. A little pith is ok as the next few steps will insure that the bitterness is gone.
• If you have an electric tea pot fill it with water and bring it to a boil. This will make the following process go much faster. If you do not have an electric tea pot you can bring a large pot of water to boil and use this water for the following steps. You do not have to do this step, but having boiling water ready for use will make the preparation go much faster.
• Place the orange peels in a very small saucepan and cover them with boiling water. Place the saucepan onto your burner, bring it back to a rolling boil and allow it to boil for 1 minute. Drain your peels into a sieve and repeat this process two more times. This 3 time boiling process is used to insure that no bitterness from any pith will dominate your candied orange peels.
• Place 1 1/2 cups sugar into the small saucepan and add 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Bring this to a boil and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved thoroughly.
• Now add your orange peels to the sugar water and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until the orange peels become translucent.
• Carefully remove a few peels at a time from the boiling sugar water and place them into a shallow bowl that is filled with 1 cup of granulated sugar. Move the peels around to cover them as much or as little as you like. When covered to your liking, remove them to a cooling rack and separate them to dry. Repeat this until all of the peels are sugar coated and on the drying rack.
• Dry the candied orange peels for 12 to 24 hours and then store them in a container with the remaining rolling sugar. If you do not wish to store the peels in the sugar, take the exra rolling sugar and combine it with the sugar already in the saucepan. Bring this back to a slow boil, stirring to combine and melt the sugar. Strain the sugar mixture through a fine sieve. This sugar mixture can be used to sweeten tea or coffee but it is sweet, so use sparingly.
• To use in place of citron rub excess sugar off and mince the orange peels very finely. Use teaspoon for teaspoon in recipes that call for candied citron.