{Little Orangettes}

This recipe is not as simple as my previous one, but it'd definitely worth it and if I can do it, you can do it. I like to call these Little Orangettes. I got the idea for this recipe from Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere. She always posts delicious recipes along with other wonderful things! Anyway.... Every year for Christmas Santa Clause leaves me a Terry's Chocolate Orange:

If you haven't had one of these, please buy one and you will thank me later. They have lots of flavors but my favorite is just the plain dark chocolate one.

anyways - back to my recipe. So these little orangettes have a similar taste to Terry's chocolate oranges and they are super cute besides. Now, before you read on to the recipe you have to promise to not disregard it just because of the ingredients, ok? They're fabulous - trust me.

Here's the ingredients:

6 oranges

Sugar (about a cup)
Water (about a cup)

Milk or Dark Chocolate chips (enough.....)
*I used milk chocolate chips b/c that's all I had in the house, next time I'll probably do dark chocolate just cause I love it.*

Here's how it's done:

1. Wash the oranges and cut into circle slices like so :

 2. Peel the slices and cut the peels into strips around 2-3 inches in length.

3. Store the fruit in an airtight container in your fridge and snack on them for the next few days.

4. Take your orange peel strips [yes, the PEEL - don't run away screaming, trust me] and blanch them twice. [If you're like I was and had no idea what "to blanch" is, read this ]

By blanching the orange peels TWICE you are removing the bitterness of the peel without loosing the orange flavor and you are also opening the pores of the orange peel to prepare them for the next step.

5. Now it's time for the syrup. Combine equal parts sugar and water (I used a little bit more than 3/4 c for each) in a sauce pan. Bring the syrup to a simmer and add orange peels. Let the peels simmer for about 1 hour. [make sure to check back occasionally to make sure your syrup hasn't evaporated leaving your orange peels to burn].

These pictures are after the 1 hr so most of the syrup is gone.

6. Once the peels have cooked, remove them from the pot place them out on a rack or something to cool and drain.

7. Once the orange peels are cool, start preparing your chocolate. Using a double boiler [and if you don't have one make-shift one like I did, it works great] melt your dark / milk chocolate chips. [I don't know how much chocolate I used - just make sure it's enough for you to dip all your orange slices in.]

8. Dip the orange peels into the chocolate and place them on wax paper to dry.

9. Once they are cool you can eat/store them! [make sure they are COMPLETELY cool and dry or when you pack them away they will stick to each other --- personal experience]

So there ya go!