Sauce pan (To safeguard against boiling over, the pot should have at least 6 quarts of volume)
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Ingredients
10Organic orangesor lemons, or limes
9cupssugar
9cupswater and juice from the oranges combined9 cups total
1poundquality chocolate
Instructions
Peels – step one
Soak oranges for 15 minutes in a pot of water that has had vinegar added to it in a 4:1 ratio (water to vinegar) This will help minimize spoilage by killing off bacteria and removing dirt
Rinse and cut oranges in half
Squeeze out the juice and remove all the fruit and membrane from the peel
Slice the pieces of peel into strips
Marmalade - step one
Separate the seeds from the orange pulp
Slice the pulp, measure it, and reserve to make marmalade
Syrup – step one
Combine juice and water for a total of 9 cups (assuming you are making only a single volume of this recipe)
Bring the liquid to a boil and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve completely.
Cook the syrup and peels together in a large pot at a temperature between 350º - 400º for 90 minutes
Do not cover it while it is cooking and keep an eye on it, especially if your range does not permit specifying the absolute temperature of your element. After cooling this mixture, refrigerate it for 3-5 days in a covered container.
Peels step two
Remove the peels with a slotted spoon, and dry them on either parchment paper or a clean cloth. (I have a stack of white restaurant serviettes for food preparation, as they show clearly when they are beyond safe use)
Marmalade step two
Strain the syrup
Measure an amount of syrup equal to the reserved fruit and combine the two, cooking a 350º - 400º for an additional 20 minutes
Pour the marmelade into prepared jars or bottles, seal them and boil for 10 minutes.
Syrup step two
Pour the additional syrup into bottles or jars, seal and process for 10 minutes
Peels final
Melt chocolate at a temperature of 120º - 130º
Dip orange slices in melted chocolate, coating thoroughly
Cool the coated peels on a tray lined with tin foil or waxed paper
Alternatively or additionally, skip the drying stage for all or some of the peels and toss these in granulated sugar
Brandy
Put 1/4 c of the candied peels into a quart mason jar and fill the jar with brandy
Let this sit for at least a week before straining
Add more oranges if you want a stronger flavour, more brandy if you want less
The longer you let this sit, the better it gets
If you were motivated to go the distance after extracting the peels, you could dip them in chocolate as well for a nice boozy chocolate covered orange peel.
Notes
You will end up with:
Approximately 1.5 lbs of dipped peels (including the weight of the chocolate)
3 cups of marmalade
7-8 cups syrup
20 oz orange brandy
Notes:
A combination of sugared and chocolate covered peels makes a very nice gift package
The same recipes may be made with either lemon, or lime
To prepare the bottles, boil them in water for 10 minutes.
To preserve the syrup, water bath can it at a rolling boil for 10 minutes.
Keep the syrup refrigerated once opened.
Use a high-quality chocolate bar, the type you don’t normally see in convenience stores.
WARNING: Syrup easily can boil over and if it touches your skin, it will cause bad burns. Do not allow children to do this alone