Chocolate Dipped Candied Orange Peels

If you're a fan of oranges and dark chocolate and you haven’t tried them together yet, you should go ahead and make these right now.  Dark chocolate and oranges make such a good pair! Plus, you’ll be eating fruit, so it’s pretty much a guilt free indulgence… sort of. 

Yields approximately 16 pieces

Ingredients: 

• The peel of one navel orange*
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Half teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3 ounces dark chocolate
• Sea salt

Directions: 

1. Bring water, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract to a simmer in a medium saucepan.  
2. While sugar mixture comes to a simmer, prepare orange peel. 
3. Cut orange in half and then into quarters.  Gently lift one corner of a quartered segment and slowly peel away the skin from the flesh—navel oranges should separate rather easily from their peel.  Repeat with three remaining segments.  
4. Slice each quartered peel longways into 4 slices.  Make sure the blade of your knife touches tip to tip of each quarter so the slices will be uniform in length and shape.  
5. Once sugar mixture is simmering, add orange peel slices.  
6. Simmer until orange peels are softened and sugar mixture has reduced to a syrup—approximately 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. 
8. Once orange peels are tender, carefully remove them from saucepan with tongs and           arrange them on the parchment lined baking sheet.  Allow them to cool and rest for about an hour.  
9. Once orange peels are cooled, melt chocolate over a double boiler on simmer.  If you do not have a double boiler, find a heat proof glass or ceramic bowl that will fit snuggly in a saucepan without having it touch the bottom—there must be a tight seal.  Bring a few inches of water in saucepan to a simmer, making sure that the water does not touch bowl.  Place chocolate in the bowl and stir until the steam beneath it melts it.  
10. Once chocolate has melted, dip 3/4 of each orange peel slice into the chocolate.  
11. Return the chocolate dipped orange slices to parchment paper. 
12. Once all the peels have been dipped in chocolate, lightly sprinkle them with sea salt.  
13. Place in refrigerator for twenty minutes to solidify the chocolate. 

*Don’t discard the flesh of the orange! If you don’t want to eat it, save it in the fridge for smoothie, fruit salad or citrus salad dressing.