preserving the season
a recipe for candied orange peels
Welcome to mama eats, a twice-weekly newsletter inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post, a recipe for candied orange peels, is free to all readers, barring the video of me making it which is viewable by paid subscribers. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love and I am a busy mother of three. If you have the means and find value in what I share, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, which also gives you the benefit of access to the growing archive (posts over a month old).
I love the flavor of orange peels, perhaps even more than the flesh, and use them to flavor a good many things both savory and sweet- grated into vinaigrette, used to flavor lentils, grated over hot soup, scrunched into sugar to flavor simple olive oil cakes, cut finely into strips to mix into a bowl of green olives, a thick slice of peel squeezed over and then dropped in to a cocktail or cup of tea to release its lovely, oily pungency. Then there’s marmalade and of course, candied orange peel. I am rather late this year making candied orange peels, I usually do a batch of them right after doing my yearly batch of marmalade, but as is the case with so many things these days, I am behind. However, we still had a good handful of fruit hanging on to our navel orange tree, even as the new blossoms promising next year’s crop begin to unfurl, sirening us with their heady perfume. Candied orange peel is an important item for my pantry- I use it to flavor baked goods thoughout the year (hot cross buns, panettone and panforte, maritozzi to name a few), and just snack on by itself (a few pieces, with a handful of fresh cracked walnuts, and a piece of dark chocolate is a delightful treat, especially in winter). As I am planning to make maritozzi in the next couple weeks, I needed to make a fresh batch.
Candied fruit dates back to ancient times, when fruit from summer was preserved in honey to eat through the winter months. I find it a thing of celebratory beauty- luminous, brightly colored- reminiscent of jewels and stained glass, catching the light just so. It reminds me of being a child in my grandmother’s kitchen and helping her stir the annual giant batch of fruitcake for gifting and eating. She’d have those squat plastic tubs of mixed peel with glowing green cedron and suspiciously red glacè cherries, and we’d empty the containers one by one into the stiff batter- such a big batch that she mixed it in the canning pot, everyone taking turns mixing with a wooden spoon until your arm got sore.
Candying citrus is not hard, it just takes time and effort, as most good things do- which is why it’s taken me this long to get around to the task this year. You take some fresh oranges, peel them, blanch the peel to remove excess bitterness, and then boil the peels in a heavy syrup until translucent. The peel will then need to sit for a few days on a wire rack to dry out a bit before tossing with granulated sugar to stop them from sticking to each other. After all this work is done, however, they store for at least a year or more in the freezer and are a wonderful gift, too- especially if fancied up by dipping one end in dark chocolate. They are also an excellent afternoon treat paired with an espresso or strong cup of tea and a square or two of dark chocolate. Intensely aromatic and acerbic, yet balanced by the sweetness, with both chew and softness, they are my favorite kind of candy. I hope you enjoy them as much as I.
candied orange peels
notes: be sure to use unwaxed/organic citrus here, as of course you’ll be eating the skin. Fresher is better as the oils in the peels are stronger and therefore more flavorful. You can use the same method for lemons and grapefruit peels as well, but you’ll need to blanch them three times instead of twice, as their peels are much more bitter than oranges. You can use as many or as little oranges as you like, but keep in mind you will be limited by how big your wire rack is as they need the space to dry. If you don’t have enough oranges at one time, you save peels in the freezer, adding to it each time you eat an orange, until you have enough.
8 medium to large oranges
4 cups // 800g sugar
2 cups // 475 ml water
extra granulated sugar, for tossing the peels in when finished
Wash oranges well. Slice off a slight disc from the top and bottom of the orange, then score the peel all the way around in 5 or 6 strips. Peel it off and place in a pot. Cover the peels with water and bring the pot just to the boil. Drain through a colander and place peels back into the pot. Cover with fresh water and bring the pot to a boil again, then drain, letting the peels rest in the colander until cool enough to handle, setting aside the empty pot (no need to wash) for later. Using a sharp paring knife, lay each peel on the cutting board and trim away some of the excess white pith and discard it. This is up to preference and if your peels are thin, you don’t have to do this step. Mine had quite a lot of pith and so I trim about half the thickness of the white part away. At this point you can also cut the strips smaller, if desired.
In the empty pot, add in the sugar and water. Bring to a boil and let cook a few minutes until sugar is dissolved. Add in the orange peels and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peels are translucent, about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how thick your peels are. Remove from the heat and let sit on the counter, overnight, in the syrup.
The next morning, remove each peel from the syrup, swiping between thumb and forefinger to remove excess syrup. Lay each piece on a wire rack and let sit 1-4 days until no longer wet, but still a bit tacky to the touch. Taste one and see what the texture is like- I prefer mine more dry/hard, so I left mine 4 days. The length of time will also depend on humidity/temperature. Toss each piece in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat it well. Using your thumb and forefinger, remove any excess sugar, then place into a sealable container for the freezer. You can also keep them in a jar at room temperature in your cupboard, but once I had a whole batch go moldy, perhaps they weren’t dry enough or the jar was contaminated- but I never wanted to lose all that work again, hence the freezer. They will keep well for years there.
For paid subscribers, I’ve made a little video of me cooking this dish below. I make the videos as both a petit treat to watch, and also for visual cues for those who find that helpful. Enjoy and thank you for subscribing x