If your house is cold, like mine, I would only attempt making these in the warmer months of the year. One winter I waited days and days for the peel to air-dry and it just never happened. They are traditionally a winter treat, but they must have been invented by someone with a warm house, or an airing cupboard! They are delicious with a chocolate tart and thick cream, or served with coffee, or tied into bundles and given as a gift.

Candied Orange Peel

SERVES 6

• 2 oranges

• 300ml water

• 300g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

EQUIPMENT

• baking trays

Alternatives

lovage; lemon peel

Top and tail the oranges and discard these discs, then score the peel vertically into 6 equal pieces with a sharp knife, cutting into the peel, stopping just before the flesh. Peel each of these segments away from the orange. You can use the orange flesh in a salad, breakfast bowl or eat just as a snack.

Cut each of the sections of peel into roughly 1-cm wide sticks, then place them in a pan of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Change the water and simmer again for another 15 minutes. Drain the peel a final time and add the 300ml water and the caster sugar to the pan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Return the peel to the pan and simmer gently for 45 minutes.

Drain the peel as thoroughly as you can through a sieve, catching the syrup in a bowl as it is lovely as a cordial or used in cocktails. Place the pieces of peel separately onto baking trays lined with greaseproof paper and leave them to cool completely. When they are cold toss them a few at a time in a bowl of caster sugar and lay them out again on fresh greaseproof paper, this time leaving them to air-dry for 24 hours. Store them in a sealed Tupperware when they are dry and they will keep for months.