Why it works: Orange and sugar 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 ↓
Candied Orange Peel
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rinds
Cut the oranges lengthwise and remove the pulp.
Soak the rinds in a strong solution of salt and hard water for six days.
Boil the rinds in a large quantity of water until tender, then drain in a sieve.
Make the syrup
Make a thin syrup by dissolving 1 pound of sugar in 1 quart of water and boil the rinds in it for 30 minutes or until clear.
Prepare a thick syrup with sugar and just enough water to dissolve it, then add the rinds and boil slowly until the syrup candies around them.
Dry and store
Remove the rinds, sprinkle with sugar, and drain until well dried before placing them in a dry place for storage.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar 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 that is candied, giving the final candied texture and bitter citrus flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the peel and, as the syrup thickens, coats and preserves it.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar into syrup and carries it into the rinds during boiling.
The step that matters
Boiling in the thick syrup. If the syrup boils too fast it can crystallise or darken before sugar has penetrated the rinds, so it should simmer slowly until the syrup candies around the peel.
“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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