Make your own gummy candies! Sort of.

Ok so technically they're called orangettes. But they taste like orange flavored gummy candy, except way, way better. (It's a good thing I have this space to unleash my brilliant writer's mind, because I am so descriptive.)

I'm not really sure what posessed me to make these. My mom sent me a link to somebody's blog which linked me to the Martha Stewart recipe and I thought oh hey, those look nice.

Plus someone at work had mentioned that the oranges in the grocery store are really good right now. I cut Martha's recipe in half (I only used three oranges) and then I ate THREE oranges in a 24 hour period. They are really good right now.

Getting the peel off was a little tricky, and trimming the excess bitter pith was sort of a pain, but I think the end result was worth it. I had a birthday party for myself on Saturday night (birthday on a Saturday, word) and these were a hit.

Also a hit: the birthday cake Adam made! He made two and layered them into one cake with raspberry jam - highly recommended. And no butter! What?

I didn't take a photo of the dredging in sugar step, because, well, my hands were covered in sugar. In the summer, I plan to garnish girly cocktails with these. And I can't wait to try them with other citrus fruits. I think grapefruits would be killer.


Candied Orange Peel
adapted from Martha Stewart

3 medium navel oranges
3 cups granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
3 cups water

Directions:

Using a paring knife, make six shallow cuts in each orange from top to bottom, cutting through the rind but not into the fruit. Use your fingers to gently loosen the six sections of rind off each orange. Use a longer, sharp knife to carefully slice off any extra white pith. Slice rind sections lengthwise into 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch strips. I got four strips out of each section of peel. Place strips in a pot, cover with cold water, cook on high heat just until the water starts boiling. Drain and repeat (cover with cold water, bring to a boil, drain and set aside).

Combine water and 3 cups sugar in a large, wide-mouth pot, cook over medium-high heat until mixture is boiling and sugar has completely dissolved. Carefully add sliced rinds into pot, turn heat down to medium, leave on a rapid simmer for about an hour, until rinds are translucent. Remove pot from heat, use tongs or a slotted spoon to fish out all the slices from the syrup & arrange in a single layer on a wire rack placed over a baking sheet or old newspaper. Pat a couple of paper towels on top of rinds to lightly blot up any excess syrup but do not dry completely. Dredge slices in extra granulated sugar until well coated, return to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.