Comments on: orangettes

By: Dee Butters

Dee Butters — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:56:05 +0000

Wonderful recipe! I know just the person that will love it! I was wondering though, would this work for other types of citrus peels?? Maybe I will experiment!!

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:13:09 +0000

Absolutely delicious! The family has nearly devoured them all, in a matter of only a day. A perfect Christmas recipe, particularly for gifting to friends.

I tried blanching the peels three times and I think came out much better for it.

By: MissJubilee

MissJubilee — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:42:46 +0000

These were good! And simple, though more time-consuming than I’d realized when I started. I’ll probably make them again. Thanks for sharing. Any more candy recipes for this Christmas?

By: Rae

Rae — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:59:14 +0000

Grace: Definitely not just an old wives tale, as I tasted the peels at each step. The bitterness of the piths was indeed reduced. However, so was some of the orangey-ness from the zest. I also noticed that it is the piths that absorb the sugar, so I wouldn’t recommend removing them to remove the bitterness. The idea is to get the bitterness out and replace it with sugar.

I ended up using a mashup of this recipe and the one from the Joy of Cooking, which recommends (1) starting with cold, fresh water for each simmer and bringing it up to the simmer slowly; (2) doing so 3-5 times; and (3) an overnight salt-water bath followed by a 20 minute soak in fresh water for softer peels and fewer simmerings. I combined these methods, doing an overnight soak plus two simmerings. Joy of Cooking also recommends a slightly stronger syrup, but only recommends simmering in it for 20 minutes. I haven’t done the chocolate dipping yet, but they’re delicious as is. Thanks Deb! As always, your instructions were clear and your commentary gave me a good sense of how to tweak the recipe to my own taste.

By: Emily from Northern California

Emily from Northern California — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:21:57 +0000

Oh my. I just finished scrubbing the chocolate off my hands from making these amazing orangettes. Although I truly find peace with my hands buried deep in bowls of melted chocolate, I wasn’t sure if that was the best method to use. In the end, my chocolate covered orange peals looked a little more…. rustic than I had hoped. The ones you have posted here (as always) look absolutely beautiful and smooth. May I ask how you did that? Mine were just too soft to get a smooth coat, and I toyed with the idea of redipping with once completely cooled. But when the clock struck ten-fifteen and I could feel the once melted chocolate solidifying under my finger nails, I knew it was time to clean up. Any suggestions for future dipping?

By: Grace

Grace — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:36:39 +0000

Hi there. I was interested to try this recipe as it includes corn syrup.

I have never understood the boiling part. They say it’s supposed to leech out the bitterness but I think that’s an old wive’s tale passed on by copy and paste.

When I candy my orange slices, I never blanch the peel and I find they taste better.
I definitely leave the pith on and I temper my chocolate.

An alternative method you may like to try is drying the orange slices in the oven and dipping them (without candying) – another taste sensation :)

By: LisaMarie

LisaMarie — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:46:32 +0000

Excellent, are we talking hours or days?

By: deb

deb — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:43:21 +0000

You’d want to dry them longer before enrobing them.

By: LisaMarie

LisaMarie — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:38:58 +0000

I just made these and I wish the orange peels were a little firmer. Would that simply require a) thicker skinned oranges and/or b) letting them dry longer before enrobing in the chocolate? By the way, stellar recipe! Thanks for a great blog on food. I’m trying the graham cracker recipe next…

By: Anshika

Anshika — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:35:46 +0000

Wow that is a delicious one. Although the process is a long one. But i am sure the taste is worth all the pains.