Recipes

Confit of Oranges Filled with Orange Sorbet

  • Serves

    serves 6

CHRISTOPHER HIRSHEIMER

While visiting New York City's Gramercy Tavern, pastry chef Claudia Fleming garnished this dessert with the cinnamon stick and star anise used to poach the oranges; she also drizzles the plate with a bit of creme fraiche.

Ingredients

For the Confit

  • 6 small navel oranges
  • 5 cups sugar
  • 1 whole cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole star anise

For the Sorbet

  • 2 cups chilled freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
  • 14 cup Bonny Doon Muscat Vin de Glacière

Instructions

Step 1

For the confit: Slice ½'' off the top and ¼'' off the bottom of each orange; then insert a sharp paring knife into each orange's flesh, cutting only the flesh into quarters and leaving the white pith and rind completely intact. Hollow out each orange by sticking a tablespoon between the flesh and the white pith to cleanly separate them. Then, push out and discard the quartered flesh, leaving the orange rind shells intact.

Step 2

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat, add hollowed-out rinds, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until rinds are softened slightly, about 15 minutes. Transfer rinds to a plate with a slotted spoon and discard water. To make a simple syrup, combine 4 cups of the sugar with 4 cups water in same pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove ¾ cup of the simple syrup for the sorbet and refrigerate until chilled.

Step 3

Add reserved rinds, cinnamon stick, and star anise to the simmering simple syrup. Place a piece of parchment paper directly on top of rinds and simmer, turning occasionally, until white pith is plump and begins to look translucent and rind is very soft, 30-40 minutes. Set aside until cool. Dredge rinds in remaining 1 cup sugar, arrange on a serving tray, and freeze.

Step 4

For the sorbet: Combine orange juice, reserved ¾ cup chilled simple syrup, and wine in a bowl; pour into ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions. Fill each frozen rind with some of the sorbet.