Candied orange peel from the navels you've already juiced

California navels reach grocery stores in November and stay into June, according to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, and every glass of fresh juice leaves squeezed halves behind. Candied orange peel puts them to use: scrape out the pulp, blanch the strips, simmer them in syrup for 40 minutes to an hour, then dry them for a day or two.

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A navel is the right orange for this. UC's guide to storing and preserving oranges finds that navel peel, being thick, dries more successfully than a Valencia's thinner skin, and King Arthur Baking warns that thin-skinned fruit such as clementines can turn tough once boiled. Thick peel with plenty of pith holds syrup and stays chewy.

Juiced halves need one extra step. Published recipes such as Damon Lee Fowler's on Epicurious score the peel off a whole orange and save the fruit for another use. After a juicer, the rind is still attached to torn membrane and pulp, and that has to come out before the peel meets the syrup. King Arthur's advice is to scrape any clinging flesh off with a knife. It also suggests keeping spare rinds in a bag in the freezer until there are enough to candy, which suits a household that juices two or three oranges at a time.

Candied orange peel recipe

Yield: about 1½ to 2 cups · Hands-on: 25 minutes · On the stove: about 1 hour 20 minutes · Start to finish: about 1 hour 45 minutes, plus 1–2 days drying

Ingredients

• Rinds from 2 large navel oranges (4 juiced halves), washed before juicing
• 4 cups (about 800 g) granulated sugar, divided
• 3 cups (720 ml) water, plus more for blanching

Steps

1. Before juicing, wash each orange under running water, rubbing the surface, and dry it. UC recommends this over soaking fruit in a sink, where standing water can spread contamination from one orange to the next.
2. Juice the oranges and keep the juice for something else.
3. Pull out any loose pulp and membrane from each half by hand.
4. Scrape the inside of each half with a spoon until only the white pith is left.
5. Cut each half in two, then slice the peel into strips ¼ inch (6 mm) wide.
6. Put the strips in a large pot, cover with plenty of water, and bring to a boil.
7. Boil for 15 minutes. Drain the peel and rinse it.
8. Taste a strip. If it's still sharply bitter, cover with fresh water, boil 5 minutes more, and drain.
9. In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups (about 600 g) of the sugar and 3 cups (720 ml) water to a boil, stirring until no grains remain.
10. Add the peel and lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
11. Keep it at a gentle simmer for 40–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the strips are soft and translucent at the edges.
12. Lift the peel out with a slotted spoon or tongs and spread it on a wire rack set over a sheet pan, with the strips not touching. Save the syrup.
13. Let the peel dry until it's tacky rather than wet, a few hours at least.
14. Toss the strips in the remaining 1 cup (about 200 g) sugar.
15. Return them to the rack and leave them until dry and firm, 1–2 days.

Notes

• Storage: Epicurious keeps the finished peel sealed in a container on the counter for up to 1 month, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. The UC recipe sheet also gives 1 month in an airtight container.
• The syrup: it comes out orange-scented and can sweeten iced tea or coffee. Refrigerate it in a clean jar.
• Drying time depends on your kitchen. The UC handout dries strips for 4–5 hours before sugaring; Epicurious leaves them 1–2 days. Humid weather means the longer end.
• Other citrus: grapefruit and lemon work with the same method but usually need the extra blanching round.
• Yield: Epicurious gets about 2 cups from 2 large whole oranges. Scraped juiced halves lose a little pith, so expect somewhat less.
• Sources: the proportions and times follow Damon Lee Fowler's recipe on Epicurious, with drying guidance from the UC Master Food Preserver sheet and the pulp-scraping steps added for juiced halves.
• Sugar coat or not: King Arthur treats the final roll in sugar as optional. Skip it and the strips stay glossy and a little sticky, which suits chopping into cake batter.

How much should you blanch the peel?

Once, for a long time, if the fruit is a navel. Blanching in boiling water pulls bitterness out of the pith and softens it. Epicurious boils the peel for 15 minutes in a single round and notes that navel peel is usually blanched once, while lemon and grapefruit often need two.

Other sources blanch more. A recipe sheet from UC's Master Food Preserver program brings the peel to a boil in fresh water three times, and King Arthur boils it three times for 5 minutes each. Three rounds suit pithier or more bitter fruit. With navels we'd start with the single long blanch, taste a strip, and add a second round only if it still bites.

Candied peel or marmalade?

Both begin as orange peel cooked in sugar, and the difference is how much of the fruit goes with it. Candied peel keeps the rind in firm pieces that are dried, then sugared, ready to be chopped into scones, dipped in chocolate or set on top of a cake. Marmalade cooks sliced peel with juice and sugar until it sets in a jar.

We make the second. Our Navel Orange Marmalade comes from Redlands navels cooked with cane sugar, water, orange juice concentrate, citrus pectin and citric acid. The rest of our marmalade collection is made the same way, one citrus variety to a jar. Why we start with the fruit on the tree is in why real marmalade starts in the grove.

Photo by Natalia Gusakova on Unsplash.