Catfish Out of Water

I made a Moroccan Orange Cake for Christmas this year. I had literally half an orange leftover at the end and, in hindsight, should have maybe bought just a couple of extra oranges. But I have just enough to make a couple of Candied Oranges. Candying citrus slices is incredibly simple. All it takes is tossing some citrus in a mix of water and sugar and simmering until crystallized. You can add extra citrus juice. Although I didn't have the foresight to get a couple of extra oranges. If you add enough water and sugar, you also end up with a delightfully sweetened simple syrup that's perfect for drizzling on top of desserts or mixing into cocktails.

Since it was the holidays and I was doing a million things at once, I just simmered these down until the liquid was just about evaporated. Which does make them a bit more crystallized. It is possible to cook them down enough for them to be edible and these probably were at that point. Although I predominantly use them for garnish. Even covered in sugar crystals, I don't necessarily want to eat orange rinds. But that is an option if you want!

Gallery

Variations of Candied Oranges

One of my favorite things to make as a garnish is candied citrus. You can do this with any fruit with a rind. I typically make candied oranges, lemons, and limes. Although you can easily do this with grapefruit or other rinded fruit of choice.

Apparently I managed to make and blog everything for candied lemons, but never actually post them. So, use the exact same instructions for candied limes. Just use lemons. I'll repost this if I ever make candied lemons again!

Candied Lemons

Moroccan Orange Cake w/ Candied Oranges

Candied Limes

Candied Oranges

Candied Oranges are an incredibly simple garnish to toss together with just water, sugar, and orange slices. You also end up with simple syrup at the end of this process that's perfect for drizzling over desserts or mixing into a cocktail with the same flavor profile.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 1 orange

Equipment

• Saucepan (or small pot)
• Stovetop

Ingredients

  

• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. water
• 1 orange sliced
• 2 tbsp. orange juice freshly squeezed

Instructions

 

• Slice the oranges to 1/8th-inch thick, or as thinly as you can evenly cut them.
• Add the sugar, water, and orange juice to a saucepan. Stir constantly and bring to a simmer.
• After the sugar has completely dissolved and the syrup has begun to simmer, add the orange slices.
• Continue to simmer the orange slices for at least 15 minutes. Making sure to rotate at least once during the cooking process.

  You can simmer the oranges anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or more. I tend to simmer mine for about 30 minutes and use them as a garnish. Although you can simmer them for longer if you want more crystallization on the oranges. If you simmer them down for long enough, they'll become edible. I don't necessarily want to eat orange rinds and use these more as a garnish in most scenarios. This is possible, though! And, if you have enough patience, is a viable option.

  The sugar water leftover is also ostensibly how you make simple syrup. So, if you simmer the oranges for lesser amount of time or add more sugar and water to the mixture, the leftover syrup is great for drizzling over cakes or making cocktails with.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• I only had 1 orange left after making Moroccan Orange Cake w/ Candied Oranges. I sliced up half of it and used the other half to squeeze for orange juice. Although you can easily scale this recipe up to use more oranges. You could probably fit a dozen or so orange slices in a standard-sized saucepan. Just add more sugar/water if it simmers down too quickly.