Although usually associated with winter holidays, candied orange peels are a lovely year-round treat. They add a velvety zing to desserts or are a perfect on their own with coffee.
A little bag of homemade candied orange peels dipped in chocolate—the darker the better, unless you’re a white chocolate aficionado—is a beautiful gift, and it’s also a nice treat for yourself.–Charity Ferreira
LC Loves Company Note
Set these little chocolate- dipped lovelies out on their own as a novel something to nibble after even the swankiest of dinner parties and you can be pretty much assured that everyone will ooh and aah. Or add them as an accent to an ensemble of desserts as the unifying element that strings together, say, an orange flan and chocolate macaroons. Either way, chances are no one will complain–unless you run out.
Chocolate-Dipped Candied Orange Peel
Ingredients
- For the candied citrus peel
- 5 medium navel oranges, preferably organic (about 2 1/2 pounds or 1.1 kg)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (350 g)
- 1 1/2 cups water (360 ml)
- For the chocolate dip
- 8 ounces chocolate, preferably bittersweet (227 g), chopped
Directions
- Make the candied orange peel
- 1. Scrub the oranges. Slice the stem end off the orange and place the cut end on a cutting board. Make vertical cuts, about 1 inch apart, all the way through the peel. Carefully peel off the scored sections of rind. With a sharp paring knife, trim away as much of the white pith from the peel as you can. Cut each portion of peel lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips.
- 2. Place the orange peels in a small pan and add enough cold water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Drain the peels and set aside.
- 3. Place the pan over medium-low heat and add the 1 1/2 cups each sugar and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange peels to the simple syrup and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and translucent, 25 to 40 minutes, depending on the thickness.
- 4. Place a wire cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet lined with wax paper. Use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer the peels to the rack. Let stand until still slightly tacky but almost dry, 1 to 1 1/2 hours
- Dip the peels
- 5. Place the chocolate in a bowl set over, but not touching, a pan of hot or gently simmer water. Stir frequently until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
- 6. Dip each orange peel about halfway into the chocolate, shaking gently to allow any excess to drip back into the bowl. Place the peels on the waxed paper.
- 7. Let the candied orange peels sit at room temperature until firm, about 24 hours, or place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 1 hour. Then serve or gift to your heart’s content. (The chocolate-covered candied orange peels will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.)
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Lou Ann Traster
These were fun to make and will be fun to give! Easy to make and your efforts are rewarded with colorful, chewy-chocolatey homemade candy. I'll add these to holiday cookie trays, tie up a few alongside a Christmas card, or pop into a present for someone special (with a mug and fancy tea?). Keep in mind when you start that the drying may take longer than described; I couldn't dip for a good 4 hours, and the texture of the candied peels was most pleasant after a day. The amount of chocolate needed to dip could easily be halved. Step 1 is the most work-intensive. I worried I'd need to blanch the strips multiple times, changing the water to cut the bitterness, but this long simmer was just fine. This makes many, many small servings for eating and gifting.