Orangettes Recipe

How to make it

---

• Cut the tops and bottoms your oranges. Score the skin vertically in a few places and then remove the peel, including white pith, in sections. (The more sections, the easier it is to get the peel off.)
• Slice peel into strips about 1/4”-1/2” wide.
• Blanch strips for several minutes in boiling water; repeat process two to three times, each time using fresh water. This strips the orange peels of any bitterness.
• Submerge strips in a pot with enough simple syrup to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for one hour.
• Drain peels and let cool, preferably for a couple hours so they can dry out slightly. (They’ll still be a bit sticky.)
• In a double boiler (or, as I do, a Pyrex measuring cup in a pot of water), melt about 16 oz of very good quality dark or bittersweet chocolate. I generally like to mix a couple different brands, and regular dark with bittersweet, for a richer flavor. Optional: add a tablespoon or so of butter for a shinier finish.
• Dip peels in hot chocolate. I found that gripping the peel between thumb and forefinger, slowly lowering it into chocolate and giving it a twisting motion, helped give the most even coating -- you'll see in the pic that I didn't dip completely, leaving a little tip of orange sticking out.
• Lay out on parchment or Silpat to cool and harden.