Chocolate and Orange Candies (Orangettes)
Introduce
Chef :
Ricardo
Chocolate and Orange Candies (Orangettes)
With their simple, perfect expression of flavor and great contrast of snappy and chewy textures, orangettes are a delight to those who adore the combination of chocolate and orange.
Ingredient
Food ration :
4 dozen orangettes
Cooking time :
2 hours 30 minutes plus 1 day drying and cooling
Cooking instructions
* Step 1
Begin by slicing the tops and bottoms off the oranges with a serrated knife. Aim to cut just where the flesh of the orange starts, removing mostly peel.
* Step 2
Using the serrated knife, cut along the side of the orange from pole to pole, to cut wide, curved pieces of peel off of the flesh of the orange. It's okay if you take a bit of the flesh with you as you cut these slices; you can remove it later.
* Step 3
Using a melon-ball scooper or a 1/2-teaspoon measuring spoon, scrape out any remaining orange flesh and discard.
* Step 4
Orangettes are a beautiful candy that look even better if you begin with neatly trimmed orange peels. Using a chef's knife, cut off any uneven edges from each of the pieces of peel.
* Step 5
Using a chef's knife, cut the larger pieces of trimmed zest into 1/8 inch strips.
* Step 6
Place the sugar, corn syrup, and 3 cups of water in a smaller saucepan for making the simple syrup, and place 2 quarts of water in a medium-size pot. Bring pot to a simmer. Set up a bowl of water and ice next to the stove, and find a large, heatproof sieve. Once the sugar has completely dissolved in the syrup pot, keep simmering a low temperature.
* Step 7
Once the pot of water has come to a boil, place the peels in the water of the pot and allow them to simmer for one minute. This blanching will help some of the bitter flavor to come out of the pith.
* Step 8
Using a spider or sieve, strain out the peels and shock the peels in the waiting ice bath to stop the cooking.
* Step 9
Throw boiling water and replace with clean water. Bring to a boil. Return the peels to the boiling water for another minute, then strain out as before and place in ice bath for a second time.
* Step 10
Throw boiling water and replace with clean water. Bring to a boil. Return the peels to the boiling water for a third time for another minute, but do not place in an ice bath. You'll want the pores of the peel to be wide open from the blanching to accept the sugar in the next step.
* Step 11
Once the peels have been blanched three times, set the simple syrup over low heat and add the peels. Bring the pot to a simmer, and allow the peels to simmer on low for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the syrup to bubble too much. You want a simmer, not a rolling boil.
* Step 12
After 90 minutes of simmering in simple syrup, the orange zest and much of the pith will appear a bit translucent. Remove the peels from the syrup.
* Step 13
Separate the peels evenly over a cooling rack, and allow them to dry overnight, turning halfway through.
* Step 14
To get a chocolate coating for the orangettes that is free of white streaks and imperfections, you will need to temper the chocolate: melt 2/3 of the chocolate (approx at 115°F), cool it (approx to 90°F) by adding the other 1/3 of the chocolate to it and stirring vigorously.
* Step 15
To dip the orangettes, submerge all but the very top of the peel into the chocolate, then pull it out. Shake the piece back and forth gently to remove excess chocolate. Finally, scrape off the excess chocolate from the bottom of the orangette. This will help prevent a bulbous foot from forming on the bottom.
* Step 16
Slide the orangette, dipped end first, gently onto the parchment to help avoid having a foot at the bottom of your orangette pieces. Allow them the chocolate to cool and set up on the parchment in a cool, dry place. Store in a cool dry place and enjoy within two weeks.
* Step 17
With the remaining chocolate, cover plain cookies or mix it with nuts and/or dry fruit and let it cool.
Note: if there is a photo you can click to enlarge it
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