Candied Orange Slices Dipped In Chocolate (With Free Gift Tag)
on Dec 14, 2023
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These chocolate-dipped candied orange slices are suprisingly easy to make with just 4 ingredients – oranges, sugar, water and chocolate. They’re deliciously sweet, soft, chewy and citrusy and make a perfect holiday gift. That’s if you can stop snacking on them yourself!
With Free Gift Tag to save and print!
What are candied oranges? Thin slices of orange that are gently simmered in sugar syrup until they turn translucent. The result is deliciously sticky, soft and chewy caramelized orange slices! They’re perfect dipped in chocolate!
Why you’ll love them
- Quick and easy holiday gift. Pop into a pretty box or cellophane bag for a simple homemade gift for friends, relatives, kids’ teachers – anyone, really!
- Around 15 minutes of hands-on time. Simmering takes about an hour (just swirl them around every now and again). Let dry, then dip in chocolate. Done!
- Look so impressive. Shhh, don’t tell anyone how simple they were to make!
- Make ahead. Once made, these will keep for 2-3 months. By poaching the oranges in sugary water you’re preserving them, which is why they’ll keep for ages!
- Many ways to use! This is one of my favorite easy food gifts to give around the holidays. But the orange slices also make great cake toppers, granola add-ins, or a tasty snack (see more ideas below!).
About the ingredients
You’ll only need 4 simple ingredients to make these (including water!). Here’s what you need to know.
Oranges. You’ll need 4 small to medium oranges. Seedless is best but use what’s in season. Try Navel or Valencia oranges, tangerines, or sweet, vibrant blood oranges.
Water. Just 3 cups of cold water from the tap. How simple is that?
Sugar. 3 cups of regular white sugar. Superfine sugar/Caster sugar is fine too, if that’s what you have.
Chocolate. Choose a good quality dark or milk chocolate for dipping your candied orange peel into!
How to make candied orange slices
While the whole process spans a couple of days (including drying and chocolate dipping time), don’t worry because it couldn’t be easier!
Here’s a short summary (scroll down for full recipe instructions and ingredients amounts).
Step 1. Slice the oranges thinly (1⁄8 of an inch or 3 to 4mm thick).
Step 2. Pour 3 cups of water into a large shallow pan or pot, along with 3 cups of sugar. Heat on the stove and swirl until the sugar has dissolved.
Step 3. Simmer the slices in the mixture for 1 hour to 1 hour and a quarter or until the white rind has turned paler and translucent (almost see-through).
Step 4. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to lift the orange slices out of the syrup and onto a wire rack on top of a lined baking sheet.
Step 5. Let dry for roughly 24 hours. They will still be a little sticky after this – that’s OK. Then dip half of each orange slice in melted chocolate, placing on baking paper to set.
Helen’s top tips
- The orange slices should be around 1⁄8 of an inch or 3 to 4mm thick. You can use a mandolin, or just a small sharp knife.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan. It’s better to use 2 pans than to pile lots on top of each other (it’s OK to have some overlapping, however). If some of the slices turn translucent before others, just remove them and continue simmering the rest.
- Swirl and turn the slices every 10-15 minutes so that they poach evenly in the sugar mixture. Be careful – it will be very hot, of course.
- Cover the slices while they’re drying overnight to protect from dust. An upside down baking sheet works well.
- Keep the syrup! After you’ve made your candied fruit slices, you can store the delicious orange simple syrup in a clean sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Use it to sweeten tea, to mix into cold drinks, to glaze meat or fish, as a pancake topping, or to glaze citrus cakes such as this ricotta lemon loaf. You can even give it as a gift by itself (two gifts in one!).
Variations
- Try making different kinds of candied citrus. How about grapefruit, Meyer lemons, tangerines, tangelos, mandarins or limes?
Note
Are you using a more sour type of citrus, or does the fruit have a particularly thick peel? Consider first boiling the slices in a pan of water for 2 minutes to remove any bitterness. Drain, then continue with the recipe.
- Cut the orange slices in half before boiling in the sugar mixture (for a smaller version).
- Make candied orange peel ‘sticks’ instead. Cut the oranges into quarters then carefully remove the flesh and as much as the pith (the white part) as you can. Then slice into 1cm-wide strips. When dried, dip half (or more!) of each stick into the chocolate.
- Add a small handful of cloves or one or two star anise to the sugar and water mixture.
- Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the citrus slices after you’ve dipped in chocolate (I always do this!).
How to use candied oranges
- Use as cupcake toppers.
- Package in small food bags with a pretty ribbon, and give as a gift (see below to download gift tag!).
- Use to decorate the top of a loaf cake such as this delicious ricotta and orange cake, a dessert such as these amazing and super easy chocolate pots or a cake such as this amazing orange chocolate cake.
- Use them to top chocolate bark.
- Use as a cocktail, mocktail or hot chocolate garnish.
- Chop and add to homemade granola, trail mix, oatmeal, or even salads (try them – without the chocolate, of course – in this quinoa feta salad!).
- Serve as an after-dinner sweet treat, or simply enjoy any time as a tasty, luxurious snack!
How to store them
Store them carefully, and your delicious candy orange slices will keep well for up to 2 to 3 months!
- In the pantry or refrigerator. In a single layer between layers of baking paper. If the weather is warm, keep them in the fridge instead.
- In a jar with syrup. Instead of dipping in chocolate, store the now caramelized orange slices in a clean jar topped up with some of the leftover simple syrup. Tie a nice ribbon around the top and this could also be a wonderful gift idea!
- Rolled in sugar. Again, skip the chocolate and roll the sticky candied oranges in sugar. This way, they won’t stick together and you can easily store them in a cellophane bag, jar or airtight container in the pantry.
Free gift tag
Feel free to right click on the gift tag below and click ‘save image as’ to download to your computer. Then right click, choose ‘print’ and cut out to use!
More food gift ideas
- These dried orange slices are a similar-but-different orange slices recipe, and also make a great holiday gift!
- Everyone loves this 10-minute Christmas rocky road!
- Why not decorate some of these chocolate lollipops with the candied oranges?
- Add candied orange slices to this chocolate chip granola. Package it into a mason jar with a pretty ribbon.
- Chocolate-dipped pretzels and/or chocolate coated Oreos (the easiest chocolate gift!).
- Pile small squares of biscoff blondies, peanut butter chocolate cheerio bars and hedgehog slices into a pretty box.
Or see all easy food gifts.
Candied Orange Slices Dipped In Chocolate (With Free Gift Tag)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 oranges, Small to medium (Seedless varieties are best)
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups sugar, Regular white granulated sugar, or extrafine/caster sugar
- 14 ounces chocolate, dark or milk, good quality
Instructions
- Wash and dry the oranges. With a small serrated knife, cut off both ends then slice the oranges into thin slices 3 to 4mm (⅛ of an inch) thick.4 oranges
- Put the water and sugar into a large, shallow pan. Heat on a medium heat and swirl around until the sugar has dissolved (around 2 minutes).3 cups water, 3 cups sugar
- Put the orange slices into the water and sugar mixture (don't overcrowd the pan, but it's OK if some are overlapping. If it's too crowded, use two pans). Bring to the boil, then simmer on a medium-low heat for around an hour, or until the white pith has turned virtually translucent. By this point the liquid will be a sticky syrup. Stir and turn over the slices every 10 to 15 minutes.
- Place wire racks on top of baking sheets lined with baking/parchment paper. Using kitchen tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the orange slices from the liquid, letting any excess syrup drip off. Place them onto the wire rack(s). If some slices turn translucent before others, simply take them out earlier, leaving the others to simmer for a bit longer.
- Now let the sticky orange slices dry for around 24 hours. Cover with an upside down baking sheet to keep them clean if you like. By this point they will be drier but still sticky.
- Melt the chocolate either by melting in a medium sized microwave safe bowl or jug in the microwave in 30-second bursts (3 or 4 x 30 seconds is about right), or in a glass bowl placed over a pan of boiling water (do not let the bowl touch the water).14 ounces chocolate
- Dip the now candied orange slices into the melted chocolate until half of each slice is covered in chocolate. Lay onto baking paper/parchment paper and put in the fridge to set. When completely set, package the slices in clear food gift bags, or store in airtight containers in the pantry or refrigerator between layers of baking/parchment paper for 2-3 months.
how many slices can you do at a time? if you want to make more batches, can you just keep putting them into the same syrup? Can I do orange and lemon slices? Thanks!
Hello Nadia! Sorry for the delay in reply – I hope this will still help. In a large wide pan I find that you can fit about 20 to 25 slices comfortably. Some will be overlapping, but that’s OK as you will be swirling them around regularly. You can’t really use the same syrup twice as it will become too thick and sticky. What you can do though if you’d like to do more is have two pans going at the same time. They’re really easy to watch since you’ll just be swirling/turning every 15 minutes or so. Lemon slices work well too! (any citrus). Good luck!