Although a little time consuming and ultimately producing more sugary treats than most people can keep pace with, it always seems such a shame to waste good orange peel.

Make a batch every now and again to use on toast, with ice creams, in cakes or give away as a generous seeming but ultimately thrifty gift. A little garden twine round the box and your friends will think you are a domestic genius.

This recipe is actually one I found online, with the addition of a cinnamon stick for a festive kick, so thanks must go to Bright Eyed Baker for this one. Although the finished oranges must be cooled before they are really ready, they are pretty irresistible warm from the cooling rack.

Ingredients – scale up to as many oranges as you have

One orange would probably top desserts for 4-6 easily enough.

Orange Peel	1	fruit
Sugar	70	grams
Cinammon Stick	1
Water	30-40	millilitres

Method

1. Remove as much pith as you can and slice the peel into 1cm ish strips.
2. Cover with cold water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
3. Once boiling, drain and repeat this process.
4. Add the water, sugar and cinammon stick to a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes until it becomes a little syrupy.
5. Add the drained orange peel and simmer gently for about an hour – until most of the water is evaporated and the peel becoming translucent. Shake the pan gently from time to time – apparently stirring causes the sugar to crystalise but I can neither confirm nor deny.
6. Remove the peel from the pan with some tongs, a few strips at a time, and place on a wire rack to cool. The sugar will be scalding hot so go carefully. It’s worth putting some grease-proof or at the very least a baking tray below the rack as the sugar syrup will drip and go hard almost immediately on cooling.
7. You can save the cinnamon too – either to store with the orange & keep the flavours infusing or it is in fact edible as candied cinnamon – just cut into small shards with a sharp knife to top desserts as you wish.
8. If there is any syrup left in the pan you could try using this to sweeten something else but it will go hard very quickly. If all else fails eat with caution from a spoon & I won’t tell anyone.
9. Once cool, store in an airtight container. Will keep for eons – your Granny probably still has some from the 1940s which would be quite palatable.