The magic of the zest

 I would often sneak an orange and try and eat it in hiding..,  just to tease my pet dog,  believe it or not she loved oranges. The aroma of oranges is so distinct that one cannot hide it....Bosky would always find me and she would bark till I obliged her. The smell of oranges always brings back memories of my childhood. We would also use the peel of the orange -  my mother would make fruit and nut cake using candied orange peel which was home made or dry it to use as a face pack or exfoliator.

Orange Peel  Exfoliator

After you peel an orange, clean the peel and remove any peel with spots. Sun dry it for a few weeks. I left mine in a sunny spot and it lived there for weeks. After it has dried well grind it using a dry grinder and sift it. You can store this dry powder in an airtight container. Add a bit of honey and rosewater to this peel powder and use it...fresh smooth skin :)

Make sure you do an allergy test before you use it, even thou it is completely natural...you never know.

 Candied Orange Peel

3-4 medium size naval oranges
Sugar - 1 cup
water - 1 cup

Remove the zest of 2 oranges using a zester. Peel the other 2 oranges and after you clean it cut it into fine square pieces. Take a saucepan , add  some water and the peels and bring to boil, strain the peel and discard the water - repeat it. This will ensure that the candied peel is not bitter.

In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring the water to a  boil. Add the sugar to the pan and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, stir in the orange peel, bring the mixture back to a light boil and cook the peel  until it looks slightly translucent.

 Take the orange peel out of the sauce pan by using a small mesh strainer or a large spoon, taking care to not take much of the sugar solution. Store in a dry airtight container - refrigerate. Or you could transfer the candied peels onto the paper towels and let the towel soak any excess sugar solution away from the peel. Take small groups of peel and drop them into the plate of sugar - store in a clean container and refrigerate. You can use this for your favorite recipes and it is a great topping for ice-creams and desserts.

I was really excited over the weekend to try out something new. I wanted to bake something with candied orange peel ...so basler leckerli was just right - chewy cookies - a traditional sweet from Switzerland. I tried an online recipe ...and :( :( to make the long story short let me say I need a new genuine recipe. So to all my friends out there if you have a tried and tested recipe of basler leckerli...plz...plz.... pass it on before all the candied peel is eaten.