My orange slices are too wet, what happened?

Either your sugar syrup had not reduced long enough or there is too much humidity in your air. Like all candy-making, humidity can wreck a project. Try and make these on a drier day, and if you can't, don't worry about it. Slightly sticky slices will still be beautiful on top of a dessert, though they won't be nice to eat out of hand.

My orange rind is tough. How do I prevent that?

Keep your slices thin. The rind on a thicker slice will not cook thoroughly in the time that it takes for the syrup to reduce to the ideal thick glassy consistency. 1/8" is the best, plus you'll get more slices from your orange.

How do I keep the sugar from caramelizing?

Cook the orange slices at the lowest setting on your stove. This will give them enough time to cook thoroughly without getting any burnt flavors from sugar that's started to caramelize.

How long do slices need to dry?

This will depend on your air where you live and how much moisture was in your orange to begin with. Ideally, the orange slices are ready for storage when the sugar is no longer wet to the touch. On a dry winter day, this can take just a few minutes, but it may be a couple hours on a wetter day.

Easy Candied orange slices: stunning dessert garnish

Description

An easy to make bittersweet garnish to elevate so very many baking recipes. Use them to top citrus desserts, sweet breads, cheesecake, or use them as a garnish for drinks.

Ingredients

Scale

Classic Candied orange slices

1 orange, about 8 ounces (Cara Cara, navel, or blood oranges are all good choices)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 g)
6 Tablespoons water (89 mL)

Chocolate candied orange slices

all of the above ingredients
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (85 g)

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Instructions

Cook the oranges in syrup

Mix the sugar and water in a small bowl. Place it in the skillet and heat over medium.
Slice the oranges into 1/8″ thick slices. Remove any seeds or white pith from the center of each slice.
When the sugar syrup is clear, place the slices in the syrup, turning them over to coat them in syrup.
Reduce the heat to the lowest setting possible.
Cook the slices for about 30 minutes, turning them over in the syrup a few times during cooking.
Then slices are ready when the rind is easily pierced with the tip of a knife. The sugar syrup should have reduced by this time so that it is producing thick, large, glassy, clear bubbles.

Dry the slices

Set a silicone baking mat inside a sheet tray. If you don’t have a silicone mat, set a piece of parchment
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on the sheet tray and spritz it with some cooking spray. Remove the candied slices to the mat with a fork.
Let the slices dry at room temperature until the sugar is no longer wet to the touch. It’s okay if there is a little stickiness, but it should not feel like you’re dipping your hands in honey when you touch the surface of the orange.

For chocolate orange slices

Microwave about half the chocolate you want to use in a small bowl at 30-second intervals until melted.
Once melted, stir in the rest of the chocolate and stir until smooth (this keeps the chocolate glossy).
Dip the edges of the orange slices into the chocolate. Set them back on the silicone mat and let the chocolate set. You can set the slices in the freezer to speed up the setting process.

Equipment

All-Clad 12″ skillet

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Silpat

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Notes

Change up your citrus: this process works well with any kind of citrus fruit. Grapefruit, lime, lemon, blood oranges, Meyer lemons, tangerines, etc are all possible to candy this way.

Sugar dipped candied orange slices: If you’d like, you can dip the finished slices in granulated sugar right before you set them on the tray to dry. This will take away the glassy appearance, but it’s a different look you might like. The sugar is also helpful for absorbing some of the sugar syrup.

Prep Time: 5
+ drying time:
Cook Time: 30
Category: Baking Building Blocks
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: American