The smell of oranges and homemade orange syrup always bring back childhood memories. Oranges were hard to find in Eastern Europe 30 years ago. We would have them during the winter time only, mostly around Christmas. My parents used to always make homemade orange syrup out of the orange peel/zest so that we could enjoy the taste for a little longer after the winter holidays. You can make orange juice by adding a few tablespoons of orange syrup to still or sparkling water. You can also use the syrup and the boiled & slightly candied orange peels in cocktails. Or, you can use it to make orange-flavoured cakes, cupcakes, fillings and frostings.
Ingredients (700 ml – 1 l syrup)
- 8 oranges (will make about 650 ml – 700 ml orange juice)
- 600 g sugar
- 500 ml water
- 2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
Directions
Thoroughly wash the oranges, scrubbing them a bit with a clean sponge or a vegetable brush.
Peel the oranges with a vegetable peeler. This will ensure that your peel is thinly cut and you don’t use much of the white part of the rind which tends to be bitter.
Place the orange peels in a pot. Pour the water over and then add the sugar and cinnamon sticks.
Boil everything for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, juice your oranges. You should have about 650 ml – 700 ml orange juice.
Pour the juice over the orange peel & sugar syrup and let it boil for 15 more minutes. If you want the orange syrup to have a thicker consistency, like I did, boil it for 30 minutes.
Pour the syrup in a bottle and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a month. I got about 700 ml of orange syrup with the thicker consistency.
If you want to keep the orange syrup for a longer time then pour it in sterilized bottles (or jars). To sterilize the bottles, first wash them in soapy water and rinse them thoroughly. Allow the bottles to drip-dry for 15-20 minutes and then place them in a pan (or right on the rack) in the oven set to 225°F (100°C) to sterilize them. Leave them there until your orange syrup is ready. Make sure the lids are clean and dry as well before using them.
Carefully remove the bottles from the oven. Pour the syrup into the hot sterilized bottles. Then, cover them with a blanket until they are completely cooled. The purpose of the blanket is to allow the bottles to cool slowly and help the lids seal properly.
After the bottles are completely cooled if you can press the center of the lid down, it did not seal. If any bottles have not sealed, you can either try processing them in a water bath or just refrigerate them. For the water bath, you need a large pot with a rack or other spacer at the bottom so that bottles do not rest directly on the bottom of the pot. Add enough hot water to cover the bottles by 2-3 cm. Then, bring the water to a gentle boil and process them for 15-20 minutes on low heat.
Video – Homemade Orange Syrup
