Candied Orange Zest Recipes

CANDIED ORANGE ZEST

Steps:

• Using a vegetable peeler, remove orange zest in strips (leaving white pith behind); slice lengthwise into matchsticks. In a saucepan, bring 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil. Add zest; reduce heat to medium. Cook until zest is soft, about 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer zest to a baking sheet lined with waxed paper; let cool. Toss with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Zest can be stored up to 1 day in an airtight container at room temperature.

SIMPLE CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

Steps:

• Cut peel on each orange into 4 vertical segments. Remove each segment (including white pith) in 1 piece. Cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Cook in large pot of boiling water 15 minutes; drain, rinse, and drain again.
• Bring 3 cups sugar and 3 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.
• Toss peel and 1 cup 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. DO AHEAD: Wrap and freeze up to 2 months.

ORANGES WITH AMBER CARAMEL AND CANDIED ZEST

Steps:

• Slice the ends off the oranges, and discard. Working from the top to the bottom, slice the peel off in strips, to reveal the orange flesh. Cut the white pith from the back of the peel with a sharp knife, and discard. Slice the orange peel into fine julienne strips, put it in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Drain, and rinse under cold running water. Repeat this process three times. Blanching the orange peel like this removes much of the bitter taste.
• Cut out the sections from the oranges into a bowl, squeezing any juice out of the membrane before discarding. Set aside.
• Pour the sugar into a saute pan or large heavy saucepan. Melt the sugar and let it develop a deep amber color, without letting it burn. Pour over 1 cup water/250 ml water and any juice that has pooled around the orange slices. The caramel will seize up, so leave the pan on the heat until the water and juice dissolve into the caramel. Add the drained julienne of zests and boil until they turn translucent, become candy coated and a dark amber color, 5 to 10 minutes. The zests will be sweet and chewy with a faint hint of bitterness and intense orange flavor.
• Add about 4 spoonfuls of this caramel with candied orange zest to the fresh orange slices, and toss. Cover, and set aside in a cool place until serving.
• (Cool the remaining caramel and orange zest. If too thick, simply thin out with a bit of water to achieve a thick syrup. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator; it will keep for at least 6 months.)
• Serve the oranges with their caramel and candied peel sprinkled with lightly toasted almond slivers and slightly sweetened whipped cream.

CANDIED ORANGE ZEST

Steps:

• Heat the 1 cup of sugar and water to a boil. Add peels and simmer until they are transparent, about 12 minutes. Syrup should be thick. Remove from syrup and toss in sugar, let dry, away from humidity. Store in an airtight tin.
• TIP:
• RED ORANGES
• Use blood oranges in your favorite recipes as you would regular oranges. Taste for sweetness, you may have to add a bit more sugar in some recipes

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.

ALMOND AND CANDIED ORANGE ZEST BARS

Steps:

• Once the flour is incorporated according to dough recipe, beat in almonds and orange peel. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Shape each into a 10-inch-long rectangle. Wrap in parchment. Refrigerate until very firm, about 2 hours.
• Slice dough crosswise slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. Reshape if needed. Bake at 350 degrees on parchment-lined baking sheets until firm, 12 to 14 minutes.

COLD CANDIED ORANGES

Steps:

• Bring a stainless-steel pot of water to a boil. (It should be large enough to hold the oranges submerged.)
• Wash and dry the oranges, and channel from stem to navel at 1/2-inch intervals, removing strips of peel while leaving the pith intact, until the oranges resemble those onion domes on Russian churches. (You need a good, sharp channeler, not a tiny-toothed zester for this one.)
• Place the oranges and their long, fat threads of channeled peel into the boiling water, and reduce to a simmer. Cover the oranges with a lid one size too small for the pot, to keep them submerged. Let them blanch for about 25 minutes to remove the harshest edge of their bitter nature. They should swell and soften but not collapse or split.
• Remove the oranges and zest from the simmering water with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Dump out the blanching water, and return the dry pot to the stove.
• In that same pot, combine the sugar with 6 cups water; bring the sugar water to a boil over medium-high, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then allow to gently boil, and reduce for 10 minutes, uncovered. You want some water to evaporate and for the syrup to take on a little body.
• Carefully place blanched oranges and zest into the sugar syrup, and reduce heat to a very slow, lethargic simmer. Cover oranges with a parchment circle cut slightly larger than the circumference of the pot (by 1 inch is enough), then place the too-small lid on top of the parchment on top of the oranges, to keep them fully submerged (and sealed under the parchment) in the sluggishly simmering syrup.
• Cook the oranges in the syrup for about 45 minutes, checking on them frequently to keep the temperature quite slow and stable, until they take on a high gloss and appear vaguely translucent and jewel-like. (We have several induction burners that come with features that can hold a temperature, and I leave the oranges at around 170 degrees for most of the candying, sometimes with a little bump up to 180. But without a thermometer or an induction burner, just a visual slow, slow, slow bubble is a good cue.)
• Cool oranges and peels in their syrup for a full 24 hours before serving. This kind of "cures" them. They get even better after 48 hours. First, you'll want to let them cool at room temperature until no longer warm to the touch, at least 4 hours, then refrigerate them until thoroughly chilled. The oranges last refrigerated for 1 month as long as they are submerged in that syrup.
• Serve very cold. Eat the whole thing, skin and all, with a knife and fork. It's like a half glacéed fruit and half fresh fruit - refreshing, tonic, digestive and so great after dinner.

SWEET CANDIED ORANGE AND LEMON PEEL

Steps:

• Place lemon and orange peel in large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 20 minutes, drain and set aside.
• In medium saucepan, combine 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture reaches thread stage, 230 degrees F (108 degrees C) on candy thermometer, or small amount dropped in cold water forms a soft thread. Stir in peel, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain.
• Roll peel pieces, a few at a time, in remaining sugar. Let dry on wire rack several hours. Store in airtight container.

CANDIED CITRUS ZEST

Steps:

• Cut the citrus into wedges and remove the flesh. Use a sharp paring knife to remove as much white pith as possible from the peels. Reserve and use the insides of the fruits for juice or another use.
• Place all the peels in a 2-quart saucepan. Cover the peels with water and bring them to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and drain. Set the peels aside.
• Add the sugar, honey, and 1 1/2 cups (354ml) water to the empty pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook to dissolve all the sugar, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Add the reserved peels to the sugar syrup and reduce the heat to low; gently simmer until the syrup registers 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer or until the peels are bright and translucent looking. Stir the peels frequently. This should take about 1 hour. You do not want to caramelize the sugar at all, so keep the flame low and cook slowly. If the syrup begins to thicken before the peels have cooked through, you may need to add a touch more water to the pan during the cook time to slow down the candying process a bit.
• Cool the peels in the syrup until they reach room temperature. From here you can go in two different directions: you can store the candied peels in an airtight container in the syrup to keep it soft and hydrated. Alternately, you can dredge the peels in granulated sugar and set them on a wire rack overnight to create a dried candied zest confection. The sugared zest can then be stored at room temperature for months and months.

CANDIED ORANGE ZEST FOR ORANGE CHIFFON CAKE

Steps:

• Using a vegetable peeler, remove zest of orange in long strips; thinly slice lengthwise. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water; bring to a boil over high. Add zest, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until zest is softened, about 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer zest to a baking sheet lined with waxed paper; let cool. Toss zest with 2 tablespoons sugar. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 day.

CANDIED ORANGE AND LEMON ZEST

Steps:

• Remove zest from oranges and lemons with a vegetable peeler in long 1/2-inch-wide pieces and cut pieces lengthwise into julienne strips, reserving orange and lemon zests separately.
• In a small saucepan cover orange zest with water and bring to a boil. Simmer zest 5 minutes and drain in a sieve, discarding liquid. Repeat procedure with orange zest 2 more times. In pan bring orange zest, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup water to a boil over moderate heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to a thick syrup. Cool orange zest in syrup. Make candied lemon zest in same manner. Zests may be made 1 week ahead and chilled in an airtight container.

CANDIED BLOOD ORANGE ZEST

Steps:

• Remove zest from oranges with a vegetable peeler, keeping pieces long Remove white pith using a paring knife. Cut into fine julienne using a very sharp knife. Place julienned zest in a small bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 minutes, and drain.
• Bring sugar and the cool water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When sugar is completely dissolved, add julienned zest, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to drain for 10 minutes. Toss zest in sugar to coat. Use immediately.

ORANGE FLANS WITH CANDIED ZEST

Steps:

• Cut the zest of 2 of the oranges into long, very thin shreds with a knife, in a saucepan of boiling water blanch it for 1 minute, and drain it. In a small heavy saucepan boil the water and the Grand Marnier with the blanched zest and 1 cup of the sugar, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side of the pan with a brush dipped in cold water, for 5 minutes. Transfer the candied zest with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with wax paper and let it stand, uncovered, for 2 hours, or until it is dry. Cook the syrup over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it is a deep caramel and divide the caramel among eight 3/4-cup ramekins, coating the bottoms evenly. The candied zest and the caramel may be made and the ramekins coated 1 day in advance and the caramel and the candied zest kept separately, covered, at room temperature.
• In a saucepan simmer the milk with the remaining 1 cup sugar and the remaining zest for 5 minutes. In a bowl whisk together gently the egg yolks, the whole eggs, the orange-flower water, and the salt until the mixture is just combined. Discard the zest and add the milk mixture to the eggs mixture in a stream, stirring. Strain the custard through fine sieve into a large measuring cup or heatproof pitcher and divide it evenly among the ramekins. Put the ramekins in a baking pan, add enough hot water to the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins, and bake the flans, covered with a baking sheet, in the middle of a preheated 325°F. oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until they are just set but still tremble slightly. (The flans will continue to set as they cool.) Remove the ramekins from the pan, let the flans cool, uncovered, to room temperature, and chill them, covered, for 2 hours. The flans may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Run a thin knife around the edge of each flan, invert a dessert plate over each ramekin, and invert the flans onto the plates.
• Garnish the flans with the candied zest and the orange sections.