13 May 2010

The Tea Party Room

(Look at the cinnamon specks. mmmmm...)
We are still in preparation mode for this looming tea party. The next installment of the tea party tester recipes is candied orange rinds! These are so easy to make, I find it hard to understand why people ever started eating these things:
Eww.

What you will need:
3 or 4 navel oranges
1 c cold water
1 c sugar
extra sugar for coating

First you will need to wash your oranges and carefully peel them.

If your orange looks like this, please promise me no one will eat it. Thank you, I will rest easier tonight.

Once you peel the oranges you will probably still have too much of the white pith attached to the rind. I used this little guy to shave off the bitter parts.

You will have lots of orange guts.

Your usable rind pile will look something like this. You do not need to be able to see quite so many of the little spotty dots but I have never been known for being careful with a knife.

Put your rinds in a pot and cover with water. Bring to boil on medium heat. Remove immediately and strain. Do this three times.

Now for the fun part: candying!
Place the sugar and water together in a large sauce pan. Completely dissolve the sugar before adding the rinds. I also added some cinnamon in with the rinds. About a teaspoon will be plenty.

Let the mixture simmer for an hour or longer, until the rinds are transparent. Do not be afraid of the rolling bubbles, they are a good thing.

This is what you want the rinds to look like before removing.

Remove the rinds and toss with sugar on a plate. Use a fork to make sure the rinds don't stick together.

Place the rinds on a cooling rack.

Line underneath the rack! You don't want to have this mess all over the counter.

Let cool and dry before packaging.
Store in a airtight container for up to one week.

I am certainly making these for the tea party but I will slice the strips thinner and dip them in chocolate!



If you are wondering what I did with the orange guts:

I made my little brother orange chocolate cupcakes! That is just a good combination.
It is his birthday!
Say happy birthday to my little brubber! (as if I have readers, hah)

He's 17! Let us pretend there are exactly 17 sprinkles on this cupcake.







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