Confit Oranges

While watching a cooking show, "confit oranges" were mentioned and I was immediately curious. I have an orange tree in my yard and it produces more oranges than I know what to do with so I loved the idea of making something with them to use them up and make them last longer. I made them once, fell in love and have made them multiple times since! Sharing with friends and getting creative with these sweet addictive bites  has brought so much joy. 
After a slow bake in sugar syrup, the orange peels become soft, sweet and edible tasting of an orange candy with light floral notes and the syrup becomes an orange infused simple syrup with the same flavors. These are great to use in dessert recipes and paired with chocolate flavors. I personally use the syrup in cocktails and love to garnish with the orange slices. I have shared a couple of these cocktails at the end of this recipe! 

Ingredients
4 oranges
4 cups sugar
3 cups water

*you will need:
- baking dish like a casserole dish
- heavy bottom sauce pan
- some parchment paper
- 16 oz sterilized jar or bigger

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

2.  Make the Sugar Syrup: place the sugar and water into the saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook 10-15 minutes until liquid reduces and thickens slightly.

3. While the syrup is cooking; Wash and scrub your oranges. Slice them thinly, setting the ends aside. Lay them in your baking dish, slightly overlapping them and layering all the slices. Squeeze any juice from the cut ends you set aside into the baking dish.

4. Pour the syrup over the orange slices. Place parchment paper, cut to the size of the dish, directly on top of the orange slices and press down slightly. Cover and seal the baking dish with aluminum foil or a lid.

5. Bake covered in preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove foil and baking paper and return to the oven for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, to allow the syrup to reduce more.

6. Remove from the oven. Set the dish aside and let the orange slices cool completely in the syrup before removing them carefully to sterilized jars. Pour over the syrup and seal. Store the jars in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Recipes using Confit Oranges: