Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Straws
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peel
Put orange peel in a weak brine for 3 or 4 days, changing water each day.
Scrape out as much as possible of the inner white skin and cut peel into narrow strips with scissors.
Put strips on stove with enough water to cover and let boil for 10 or 15 minutes, drain and repeat the process.
Candy the peel
After draining again, return to fire with 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup of water (this quantity enough for peelings of 6 oranges).
Cook down slowly until syrup is nearly absorbed by orange peel.
Remove with a silver fork and place in waxed paper, well sprinkled with sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oranges
- Provide the peel, which becomes the candied strips and gives a bitter, aromatic flavour.
- Sugar
- Forms the syrup that is absorbed by the peel, making it sweet and giving it a glossy, preserved texture.
The step that matters
Cook down slowly until syrup is nearly absorbed. Sugar syrup must thicken and soak into the peel gradually. Cooking too fast can scorch the sugar or leave syrup pooled rather than absorbed, so the strips turn out sticky or bitter-tasting.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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