Succulent pieces of candied orange peel. You can either roll them in sugar or dip them in chocolate to make delicious gifts. They're also excellent used in baking as homemade version of mixed peel.
Peel the oranges keeping as much of the pith on the skins as you can.
6 organic oranges
Cut the peel into ½ cm strips.
Place the peel in a large pan and cover well with water. Boil for about 15 minutes.
Drain the peel and repeat the process twice more.
Heat 100g sugar and 50ml water gently and stir until the sugar had dissolved. Add the star anise if using.
100 g granulated sugar, 50 ml water, 1 star anise
Add the drained strips and simmer for about 45 mins or until the peel has started to turn translucent.
Drain the syrup. You can keep this for using in other recipes or pouring over ice cream.
Put the peels on a rack lined with greaseproof paper to dry for 24 hours.
You can roll the peel strips in caster sugar at this point if you like. This is an especially good idea if you're not going to coat them in chocolate. But you might want to do it even if you are.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling water.
80 g dark chocolate
Half dip the dried orange peels in the melted chocolate and lay them out on greaseproof paper. Leave in a cool place (but not the fridge) until set.
Package into jars or cellophane gift bags.
Notes
I like a little bitterness in my peel, but if you don't, boil the peel for a little longer each time and do it four times rather than three.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.