Chocolate covered orange peels are one of my strong childhood memories–a treat for adults, with adult tastes. The orange peel was soft and slightly bitter, coated in a sugar syrup and then in dark chocolate. Aromatic, sweet and bitter, with a soft peel and brittle chocolate coating–it was always a treat.
Orange ready to go, still in tree.
Now I care for an orange tree, and the pesticide-free, organic oranges have the most amazing fragrance when they are ready to be picked–floral and dense, not at all what an orange tastes like.
So when we eat oranges, we save the peel to make chocolate-striped peel. Here’s how it’s done:
Ingredients: sugar, clean water, orange peels, good quality dark chocolate (Belgian semi-sweet chocolate from Trader Joe’s works very well.)
Pick four large pesticide-free, organic oranges. Mine are navels. Wash and dry them. Score them from top to bottom (stem to blossom end) into four or six segments. Pull off the peel carefully. If it breaks, you can still use them. Eat the orange, this is about the peels. Cut the peels in long strips. Remove some of the white pith by using a sharp knife and cutting slowly, holding the knife flat and parallel to the cutting board. Do not remove all the pith—about half will do.
Orange strips with some pith removed.
4 oranges will yield about 2 cups of loosely-packed peel.
Put 2 cups of clean water in a small saucepan–about 2 quart size. Bring to a boil. Put the orange peel in, wait for it to barely boil again. Pour out the water. Repeat for a total of three times. This removes the bitter flavor of the peel.
Drain the peel. While it’s draining, make the sugar syrup. Use twice as much sugar as water. For the 2 cups of peel, about 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water will make a good syrup amount. Pour the sugar and water into the same saucepan as before. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the cooked orange peel. Stir. Keep stirring until the liquid is completely absorbed. The sugar will form crystals on the bottom of the pan.
Immediately pour the peels onto a sheet of parchment or a large platter. Using a fork, pick apart the peels into individual pieces before the sugar coating hardens. The ideal peel will be soft and have a crunchy coating. If the sugar syrup remains sticky, you can slide it into a 200-degree oven for a half hour.
Melt about an ounce of chocolate (more or less to taste) by putting it in a microwave-safe container and heat it at high heat for 30 seconds. Stir to check for consistency. If it isn’t the consistency of sour cream, heat at another 10-second interval until it is. Using a small spoon pick up about half a spoon full and pour a stream over the orange peels. Using a fast back-and-forth motion, you’ll web the orange peels in chocolate. Let it dry and they are ready to eat.
Chocolate covered orange peels, ready to eat.
–Quinn McDonald is a life- and creativity coach, writer and artist. She’s a wicked foodie, too.
QuinnCreative 
My mother used to make her own candied peel for fruitcakes, so stop just short of piling the chocolate on and add a good Napolean brandy and save until next Christmas! Lemons, limes, grapefruit, even whole kumquats sliced thinly were fair game. Yum.
Your mother was a genius. Candied ginger is good too, soaked in brandy. In fact, I can’t think of much that isn’t good soaked in brandy.
Thank you. You took me back to childhood. I am going to seek out some organic oranges and make some of these. Unfortunately we don’t have orange trees in Montana. I’d love to raise my own ! Happy 2012 to you!
Orange trees wouldn’t do well in Montana,for sure. Organic oranges are great. I wait 11 months for one month of fabulous oranges. It’s great waiting for it!
How delicious these would be after a fine meal together with a small espresso coffee.
I believe I remember coated orange peels from my early childhood in the ’50s but they were fully coated with sugar and dark chocolate.
Maybe grapefruit peels would do well with milk chocolate or white chocolate and lime peels with milk chocolate and chili flakes.. just dreaming away.
Most orange peels are completely covered. I like these with just a touch of chocolate not just visually, but because ripe oranges taste completely differently than store-bought ones. But oh, yum, I love your other suggestions! Lime peels with chili flakes. . . .hmmmmm!
Quinn the most tasty oranges are the ones that come straight from the tree and my favorites are still a bit green! I’ve picked a whole lot of oranges, grapefruits and mandarines in my young years 😉
How do those slightly green ones taste? I didn’t pick mine then and I’m curious.
At that point the oranges are already edible and so fresh, they taste at their very best!
Definitely a recipe best done with organic oranges – sounds, oh so yummy. And I love how the red and white ornament in the orange tree looks like a giant peppermint candy!
They are yummy, for sure. And pretty versatile!
yum
i can smell the citrus/chocolate aroma from here
just discovering you as i leap around the internet today. knew i was gonna like you when i saw your post on candied orange peels- my personal fave and something i make every year from oranges off the backyard tree.
it’s a new year in the making- planning for a good one!
Having an orange tree makes the BEST orange peel ever. Tomorrow, I’m meeting someone to see if we can shibori Arches Text Wove–my favorite paper for journaling. No idea what’s going to happen. Any predictions?