Orange Peel Spoon Sweet

Preparing the orange peel:

Wash and brush oranges. Slice and remove the peel in strips, removing all of the external rind using a knife or a peeler. There’s no need to remove all the pith, keeping some of the pith adds to the flavor. Continue to cut the orange peel rind into 1/2-inch thin strips, julienne style. (Save the inside of the orange for eating, a smoothie or juicing.)

Note: Traditionally in Greece, when preserving large strips of fruit peels like oranges, grapefruits and watermelons, it’s routine to sew the fruit rinds into a circle. I also used a skewer to speed up the process, though this leaves large holes in your fruit.

Place the peels in a large saucepan with enough cold water, being sure to cover peels with about 2 inches of water. The peels will naturally want to float to the top so I placed a dish on top to fully submerge them in the water. Let soak for 12 hours or overnight. You will need to pour the water out, rinse the orange peels and refill the saucepan with cold water. Repeat this process approximately every 4 hours.

After the peels have soaked, pour out the water, rinse the peels and refill saucepan with water. Place saucepan on stove at medium high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse peels with cold water. Repeat the boiling-and-rinsing process 2 additional times for 3 minutes each time. Rinse the orange peels and strain in a colander.

In order to remove excess moisture, place orange peels on a flat surface on a towel to dry anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours.

Preparing the sweet of the spoon:

Place sugar and water in a saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add orange peels and allow to simmer on a low boil for 20 minutes until a syrup begins to form and thickens slightly. My mother wanted me to tell you it should be thick like honey, enough to coat your spoon, hence “sweet of the spoon.” Once you’ve reached the desired consistency, add the lemon juice and stir until combined.

Allow to cool completely before storing in sterilized jars. Since I was serving this for a dinner party and gave some as party favors in small 4-ounce jars, I bypassed the canning process.

There are so many ways to serve this luscious sweet syrupy dessert: with a scone, on toast or simply by the spoonful. Do as the Greeks do and serve it as your first course at a dinner party. But this Greek got adventurous and served dessert last, graciously set atop a heaping scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with a pistachio orange oatmeal cookie. I wanted my guests blabbering sweet nothings at their departure.