Chocolate Dipped Orange Peel

This makes an elegant gift. You can make it over two weekends or the long Thanksgiving holiday and it will keep for gift giving. (For ease of preparation, buy candied peel and do just the chocolate part yourself. No one will ever know.)

INGREDIENTS

For the candied peel:

8 navel oranges

71/2 cups sugar

6 cups water

2 drops each yellow and red food coloring, optional

Quarter oranges lengthwise and remove peel and white pith in one piece from each quarter. Cut the peel into lengthwise strips, about 1/3' wide. Put the peel in a large bowl, cover with cold water, and soak for 1 hour. Drain the peel, put it in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and repeat the process. Then cover the peel with cold water and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the peel is tender; drain.

Put 6 cups of sugar and the water in the pan and bring to a boil. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, brushing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush to get all the sugar. Add food coloring if you wish. Boil the syrup, uncovered, until the temperature reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer (about 30 minutes). Add the peel, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the peel is translucent, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from heat but leave the peel in syrup for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Return syrup-peel mixture to the stove and bring to a boil, uncovered. Cook until it reaches 226 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and let stand another 8 hours. Return to the stove and repeat.

Reheat one more time, just until syrup liquefies, then drain the peel. Immediately spread the peel on metal racks set in shallow baking pans; let it dry until it is just barely sticky, another 8 to 12 hours.

Spread a half cup of sugar on a plate; roll the peel in the sugar to coat well, then transfer to a sheet of waxed paper. Add more sugar as needed to coat remaining peel. (You may need to put the sugar through a sieve to remove clumps and bits of peel.) Dry the sugared peel on waxed paper, then layer in an airtight container with waxed paper between each layer. The peel will keep for 3 months.

For the chocolate:

16 oz. quality bittersweet

Lay out several sheets of waxed paper on a counter where it’s cool. Put the chocolate in a small heat-proof bowl and melt over just simmering water, or melt it in a microwave oven. As soon as the chocolate is melted and stirred to dissolve any lumps, remove from heat. Dip one end of each piece of peel in the chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate and lay the strips carefully on the waxed paper to dry.

When dry, the chocolate candied peel can be placed in a tin or decorative box lined with waxed paper. The peel will keep for a week to ten days.