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Orange Confit

Adela Stefan/Getty Images

BY Mark Bittman

PUBLISHED December 18, 2023

This is the exact opposite of a quick dinner recipe (it’s a slow dessert recipe), but it’s honest-to-goodness alchemy. You’re taking pretty much everything in the orange except its form and replacing it with sugar, making even the peel edible. You can use this technique on all kinds of citrus. Blanching the fruit helps to remove the bitterness of the pith. Think of this as fresh orange candy or sugar in orange form.

 

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Orange Confit

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Makes 16 servings 1x

Time 9 to 16 hours

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 4 big navel oranges
  • 2 1/2 pounds sugar

Instructions

1. Fill a saucepan large enough to hold oranges with water; bring to a boil. Blanch oranges for 30 seconds, then remove, change water, and repeat. Carefully quarter oranges through their poles. Return them to saucepan with half the sugar and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cook over lowest possible heat, adding water as necessary to keep them covered. Cook for 8 hours, then remove from heat and let sit overnight.

2. Drain oranges and repeat process with remaining sugar and water to cover. Oranges are done when very tender but not falling apart, from 1 to 8 hours. Remove pot from heat and let cool, then refrigerate oranges with their syrup. Oranges will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.

3. Serve an orange segment with a dollop of whipped cream (or a scoop of chocolate caramel mousse).

— Recipe adapted from Scott Carsberg

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