I’ve been scanning local shops for small gifts for friends and neighbours for Christmas. I’m always trying to be sustainable, so any gifts that I make myself can only be a good thing.
I’m experimenting with making homemade chocolate nut clusters and orangettes . Orangettes are something I fell in love with when I lived in France – candied orange peel dipped in chocolate. These are relatively expensive to buy and aren’t easy to find in our local shops.
I started by scrubbing and peeling a few organic oranges, lemons and limes. I re-wrapped the fruit to use another time, and popped it in the fridge. The peel was sliced into thin strips and boiled for fifteen minutes, drained, and repeated twice. This is to remove the bitterness from the pith, apparently.
Next up is a simple sugar syrup – just sugar and water- to which the drained peels are added and simmered gently for an hour.
They’re then scooped out, rolled in caster sugar and dried on a rack overnight.
This morning I melted both dark and milk chocolate in a bowl over hot water on the hob, and dipped the fruit peels. They’re currently on drying racks chilling in the fridge ready for testing later. (Although I’ve had a few sneaky pieces just for quality control purposes already😊)
The residual boiling syrup is pale yellow, infused with a delicate citrus taste, and tastes too good to waste, so I’ve poured it into a jar ready to add to my next gin cocktail (like we have those so often here on the croft 😂) or to drizzle over cakes or desserts.
I think that these will make nice, simple gifts for neighbours, which I’ll pop into paper bags or small gift boxes. They didn’t cost much (oranges, sugar, good chocolate) and they taste so much nicer than shop bought. I love that these are made with the peel and that I can re-use the syrup so that all the fruit is used in some way.
Ravencroft Skye 
Looks delightful!
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Thank you 🙏
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Going to try this. Sounds delicious and special. I am in France but haven’t seen these in our rather rural area.
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I used this recipe (then dipped in melted chocolate) https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-make-candied-orange-and-lemon-peel/
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I have made those in the past and they are delicious. Do dry them thoroughly though – one batch I rushed and they went mouldy fairly quickly whereas the ones I took my time over lasted ages. Of course if they get eaten quickly it is no problem!
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Good advice. I dried them for 2 days and they were still a bit sticky, but they will all get eaten within the week… and kept in the fridge . The first batch disappeared under a rush of willing testers 🤤
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Oh my. These look wonderful! I used my pumpkin skin from Halloween last year and made candied pumpkin strips but this looks fabulous. As if I need an excuse to eat any more sugar!
I hope you survived Storm Arwen. It hit Manchester and we had snow so I dread to think what it was like for you guys up there. I thought of you all up there in the Highlands and Islands.
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We have survived, thank you. The wind wasn’t too bad on the NW coast, well, not as bad as on the east coast. We do have snow though and some of the roads are impassable. The gritters are out!
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What a lovely idea! As it is a cool and a very windy day here, I tried it. Looks yum. Just pre-chocolate time atm. Monday for that. We have enough raw materials 😉
Many thanks!
D
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Great option for gifting. I tend to go with hand spun and knitted socks as gifts, although I may make some orangettes at some point this year too. Thanks for the idea!
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If only I could knit…well done you 👍
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