Candied Blood Orange Zest Recipes

Steps:

• Using a vegetable peeler, remove orange zest in strips (leaving white pith behind); slice lengthwise into matchsticks. In a saucepan, bring 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil. Add zest; reduce heat to medium. Cook until zest is soft, about 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer zest to a baking sheet lined with waxed paper; let cool. Toss with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Zest can be stored up to 1 day in an airtight container at room temperature.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add zest of 1 orange (peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler); simmer, swirling occasionally, until zest is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a plate. Dredge zest in sugar, and thinly slice.

Steps:

• Heat the 1 cup of sugar and water to a boil. Add peels and simmer until they are transparent, about 12 minutes. Syrup should be thick. Remove from syrup and toss in sugar, let dry, away from humidity. Store in an airtight tin.
• TIP:
• RED ORANGES
• Use blood oranges in your favorite recipes as you would regular oranges. Taste for sweetness, you may have to add a bit more sugar in some recipes

Steps:

• Remove zest from oranges with a vegetable peeler, keeping pieces long Remove white pith using a paring knife. Cut into fine julienne using a very sharp knife. Place julienned zest in a small bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 minutes, and drain.
• Bring sugar and the cool water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When sugar is completely dissolved, add julienned zest, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to drain for 10 minutes. Toss zest in sugar to coat. Use immediately.

Steps:

• Cut tops and bottoms off of the orange and score the orange into quarters, cutting down only into the peel and not into the fruit. Peel the skin and pith of the orange in large pieces, use the orange for another recipe. Cut the peel into strips about 1/4-inch wide. Put the orange peel in a large saucepan with cold water to cover, bring to a boil over high heat. Then pour off the water. Repeat 1 or 2 more times depending up how assertive you want the orange peels to be. (Test kitchen liked the texture of a 3 time blanch best, it also mellowed the bitterness. But it is a matter of preference.) Remove the orange peels from the pan.
• Whisk the sugar with 1 1/2 cups water. 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.) Add the peels and simmer gently, reducing heat to retain a simmer. Cook until the peels get translucent, about 45 minutes. Resist the urge to stir the peels or you may introduce sugar crystals into the syrup. If necessary, swirl the pan to move the peels around. Drain the peels, (save the syrup for ice tea.) Roll the peels in sugar and dry on a rack, for 4 to 5 hours. Return to the sugar to store.
• Cook's Note: One way to use orange peels is to stuff a dried date with a piece of orange peel and almond, then dip the entire thing into dark chocolate.

Steps:

• Bring water and sugar to boil in a heavy large skillet, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Thinly slice blood orange (you can substitute a regular orange); add to skillet, arranging in a single layer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and barely simmer until the white pith of the orange becomes translucent, turning the slices occasionally, about 40 minutes. Allow the orange slices to cool in the syrup, turning occasionally. Arrange the slices atop the tart and drizzle with some of the syrup just before serving.

Steps:

• Remove zest from lemons with a vegetable peeler, keeping pieces long. Remove white pith using a paring knife. Cut into a fine julienne using a very sharp knife. Place julienned zest in a small bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 minutes; drain.
• Bring sugar and the cool water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When sugar is completely dissolved, add julienned zest, reduce heat to medium low, and cook 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand overnight.

Steps:

• Cut the citrus into wedges and remove the flesh. Use a sharp paring knife to remove as much white pith as possible from the peels. Reserve and use the insides of the fruits for juice or another use.
• Place all the peels in a 2-quart saucepan. Cover the peels with water and bring them to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and drain. Set the peels aside.
• Add the sugar, honey, and 1 1/2 cups (354ml) water to the empty pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook to dissolve all the sugar, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Add the reserved peels to the sugar syrup and reduce the heat to low; gently simmer until the syrup registers 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer or until the peels are bright and translucent looking. Stir the peels frequently. This should take about 1 hour. You do not want to caramelize the sugar at all, so keep the flame low and cook slowly. If the syrup begins to thicken before the peels have cooked through, you may need to add a touch more water to the pan during the cook time to slow down the candying process a bit.
• Cool the peels in the syrup until they reach room temperature. From here you can go in two different directions: you can store the candied peels in an airtight container in the syrup to keep it soft and hydrated. Alternately, you can dredge the peels in granulated sugar and set them on a wire rack overnight to create a dried candied zest confection. The sugared zest can then be stored at room temperature for months and months.

Steps:

• Wash oranges well. Use a peeler to remove all the zest in long strips. It's okay if some of the white pith comes with it.
• Transfer the peels to a saucepan and add 6 cups of cold water. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to low and simmer until the peels are soft and tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• While that cooks, cut oranges in half and juice them into a large measuring cup; this should equal 1 cup. Pour in 1/2 cup cold water and set aside.
• Remove peels from heat and drain off the water. Transfer peels to a cutting board, and when cool enough to handle, slice the zest into very thin strips. Transfer into the blood orange juice.
• Pour zest-juice mixture into the saucepan along with lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly, 30 to 40 minutes. A probe or candy thermometer should read about 225 degrees F (107 degrees C).
• Meanwhile, inspect jam jars for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water until juice mixture is ready. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm soapy water.
• Pour into sterilized jam jars and let cool to room temperature. Seal jars and transfer to the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight, before enjoying.

Steps:

• Cut the zest of 2 of the oranges into long, very thin shreds with a knife, in a saucepan of boiling water blanch it for 1 minute, and drain it. In a small heavy saucepan boil the water and the Grand Marnier with the blanched zest and 1 cup of the sugar, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side of the pan with a brush dipped in cold water, for 5 minutes. Transfer the candied zest with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with wax paper and let it stand, uncovered, for 2 hours, or until it is dry. Cook the syrup over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it is a deep caramel and divide the caramel among eight 3/4-cup ramekins, coating the bottoms evenly. The candied zest and the caramel may be made and the ramekins coated 1 day in advance and the caramel and the candied zest kept separately, covered, at room temperature.
• In a saucepan simmer the milk with the remaining 1 cup sugar and the remaining zest for 5 minutes. In a bowl whisk together gently the egg yolks, the whole eggs, the orange-flower water, and the salt until the mixture is just combined. Discard the zest and add the milk mixture to the eggs mixture in a stream, stirring. Strain the custard through fine sieve into a large measuring cup or heatproof pitcher and divide it evenly among the ramekins. Put the ramekins in a baking pan, add enough hot water to the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins, and bake the flans, covered with a baking sheet, in the middle of a preheated 325°F. oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until they are just set but still tremble slightly. (The flans will continue to set as they cool.) Remove the ramekins from the pan, let the flans cool, uncovered, to room temperature, and chill them, covered, for 2 hours. The flans may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Run a thin knife around the edge of each flan, invert a dessert plate over each ramekin, and invert the flans onto the plates.
• Garnish the flans with the candied zest and the orange sections.