Preserved Orange Zest

I’m not afraid to say that this was an absolute experiment. I am delighted to report that it was an absolute success!

I have many citrus trees (grapefruit, lemon, lime and mandarin – but no orange) so was determined to make the most of the zest of a bagful of oranges I had inherited. The juice was delightful…I wanted to preserve the rest.

So my Preserved Orange Zest clearly only needs the zest. You can either use a vegetable peeler (which is easy to do with a whole orange). Or, if you have already squeezed the orange, cut the remaining, rather squished oranges, into quarters. Removing the skin is made easy work with the help of a vegetable knife. Lay each quarter, skin down/flesh up, on a chopping board. Slide the knife, flat and horizontal to the skin gently and the pith (the white, and bitter part of the orange) will come away nicely. Discard the pith.

How do you use orange zest? As you would freshly grated zest, preserved orange zest gives a summer zing to anything it touches: smother over fish before baking, add to a Mediterranean salad or a vinaigrette, or use in baking.

You’ll notice I’ve used dried juniper berries. What a discovery! They are delicious and add a sweetness to the zest that is stunning. You may not wish to eat them once you begin to use the zest in baking. Juniper berries taste beautiful but remain partially hard and while they could crack a tooth, potentially, they also give quite a kick once chewed on whole.

Preserved Orange Zest

Makes: 3 small jars

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 9 oranges, skin only (approx 400g zest)
• 2 Tbsp dried juniper berries
• 200g white sugar

Method

1. Cut away the orange skin and chop roughly into chunks. Put in a blender and pulse until all the peel is finely chopped.
2. Add zest, along with juniper berries and sugar, to a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring regularly so as to not let the sugar burn, until the sugar has dissolved and the contents are piping hot.
3. Transfer into small sterile preserving jars.