We had one of those rare Virginia days where 8 inches of snow blanketed the ground and more was on the way. My husband had recently purchased two big bags of oranges and he and my daughter enthusiastically squeezed fresh orange juice for breakfast. I was then faced with dozens of orange skins and wondered what I could do with them. Since I was happily trapped inside, candied orange peels seemed like a possibility.
I looked at multiple recipes, but couldn’t find any that used already squeezed oranges. They all called for peeling whole oranges and I didn’t have any of those. So…. I combined a few recipes, added my own new step and it worked! Actually, it worked really, really well. Here’s what I did…
Candied Orange Peels (from juiced orange halves)
10 oranges – that have been cut in half and juiced
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar for decoration
After you have squeezed the oranges for juice, cut the peel from the juiced orange halves into strips about 1/4-inch wide. They will have bits of pulp and the white pith on them. Put the orange peels in a large saucepan with cold water to cover, bring to a boil over high heat to blanch. Then pour off the water. Repeat 1 more time and drain the oranges.
After the second blanching, use a sharp paring knife to cut the white pith from each of the strips of orange. (Since the oranges have been cooked twice, it is easy to remove the bitter pith.)
Put the cleaned orange peels back into a large saucepan with cold water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat to blanch one final time. Then pour off the water and remove the orange peels from the pan.
Combine the sugar and water in the large saucepan. 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.) Stir in peel, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from the heat and transfer pieces of orange from the pan and roll, a few at a time, in remaining sugar. Let dry on wire rack several hours. Store in airtight container and enjoy!
Time Tip: Since the kids were running in and out of the house and in need of help with all their snow clothes, I took breaks in between the blanching of the oranges. The peels were able to rest in the sink in a colander. The only step I really had to do from start to finish was the final step when you simmer the sugar, add the peel and then roll them in sugar.
