Candied orange cream with honey and vanilla

One of the reasons I've started loving blogging so much was sharing. Giving away... tips, secrets, recipes... And when I discover something so great and delicious like this cream, I treasure it dearly. It becomes indispensable in my kitchen. Once the first jar was empty I was having an abstinence crisis. I kept adding it everywhere, to cookies, creams and frostings, cakes, sweet breads. It is addictive, that's the only thing I feel like warning you about. For the rest, I'll be giving you many ideas for using it, so make sure you get hold of some nice, organic oranges and make enough cream to last you at least several months. Don't wait until it's too late.
And you'll be grateful to have some in the fridge when summer's here and you'll have that divine orange flavoring to add whereever your immagination takes you.

A big thanks for the two ideas, Candied orange cream and candied orange slices, go to my blogging friends, Federica from Note di cioccolato, and Ljiljana from Chocolate dust. Check out their blogs for lots of delicious recipes and great photos.

Candied orange cream with honey and vanilla

  for candied orange cream:
* 125 g candied orange slices
* 125 g honey (possibly acaccia or orange blossom honey)
* 1/2 vanilla seed

   for candied orange slices:
* 1 organic orange
* 200-300 g caster sugar
* 350 ml water

First step is making candied orange slices.
Carefully wash an orange and cut it into 1/2 cm thick slices.
Put water and sugar into a large pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Carefully add the orange slices, they should be in a single layer so make sure the pan you're using is large enough.
Lower the heat and let the orange slices simmer in sugar syrup for 30-40 minutes, flipping them every now and then.
Take them out with a fork and place on a cooling rack for the excess syrup to drip off and let them cool slightly.

Puree the candied orange slices in a mini pimer or with a stick blender until creamy and smooth or with just tiny small pieces of orange visible (if making bigger quantity you may want to use a food processor).
Add the honey and the scraped vanilla seeds and give it a few more swirls to make the cream homogeneous.
Transfer into a glass jar, close tightly and keep refrigerated. It will keep for months, if you manage to make it last that long.

Crema di arance candite con miele e vaniglia

  per la crema di arance candite:
* 125 g di fettine di arance candite
* 125 g di miele (possibilmente di acacia o arancia)
* 1/2 baccello di vaniglia

   per le arance candite:
* 1 arancia non trattata
* 200-300 g di zucchero
* 350 ml di acqua

Per prima cosa preparate le fettine di arancia candite.
Lavate bene con una spazzola le arance. Tagliatele a fettine spesse circa 1/2 cm.
In una casseruola abbastanza larga mettete l'acqua e lo zucchero e portate a bollore. Quando lo zucchero si sarà sciolto, sistemate le fettine di arancia nello sciroppo (in un unico strato), abbassate il fuoco e lasciatele sobbollire per circa 30-40 minuti, rigirando le fettine ogni tanto.
Togliete le fettine d'arancia dallo sciroppo e lasciate sgocciolare e raffreddare su una gratella per dolci.

Usando un mini pimer or frullatore a immersione, frullate le fettine fino a ottenere una crema abbastanza liscia (con più o meno pezzettini minuscoli di arancia).
Unite il miele e i semi di vaniglia e frullate tutto insieme ancora per qualche secondo.
Trasferite la crema nel baratolo di vetro, chiudetelo bene e conservate la crema nel frigo.
Si mantiene bene per diversi mesi, sempre che riusciate a farla durare tanto, è così buona che vorrete metterla da per tutto.

Krema od kandiranih naranči s medom i vanilijom

   za kremu od kandiranih naranči:
* 125 g kandiranih kriški naranče
* 125 g meda (po mogućnosti od naranče ili bagrema)
* 1/2 mahune vanilije

   za kandirane naranče:
* 1 neprskana naranča
* 200-300 g šećera
* 350 ml vode

Prvi korak je priprema kandiranih kriški naranče.
Dobro operite naranču četkom i narežite je na kriške debljine oko 1/2 cm.
Stavite vodu i šećer da prokuhaju u široj šerpi pa u sirup spustite pažljivo kriške naranče.
Smanjite vatru tako da sirup lagano ključa da se naranče ne bi raspale.
Kuhajte ih oko 30-40 minuta odnosno dok korice ne postanu staklaste.
Izvadite korice na rešetku da se okapaju i ohlade.

Smrvite kandirane naranče štapnim mikserom ili u mini pimeru (el. sjeckalici).
Pomiješajte s medom i sastruganim sjemenkama vanilije, pa još jednom kratko izmiksajte da se krema ujednači.
Spremite u staklenku i čuvajte u hladnjaku. Krema može u hladnjaku stajati mjesecima, neće se pokvariti.