Orange Recipes & a Storage Tidbit

In Florida fruit from the 'orange' families are beginning to ripen. My Chinese Honey tree in my front yard is so heavy with fruit we had to support some of the branches. It's a new tree and very thin and we've been enjoying the fruit as it ripens.

So for today's post I thought I'd share some recipes and a storage tidbit about oranges. First the recipes:

ORANGE COMPOTE.
6 Jaffa or other good and juicy oranges, 1/4 lb. of loaf sugar.
Peel the oranges, divide them into quarters, carefully remove the outside white skin and the pips of each quarter. Put the sugar into a copper pan with about half a pint of water, and boil down to a syrup, remove the scum as it rises. Put in the oranges and boil till tender. Take up and cool, arrange the fruit neatly in a circle on a deep dish (glass or china), pour the syrup round it and serve.

ORANGE JELLY.
1 lemon, 1/2 pint of orange juice, the thin rind of 1 orange, 6 ozs. of loaf sugar, 2 to 21/2 ozs. of gelatine (French leaf), the whites and shells of 2 eggs, a dessertspoonful coriander seeds, a small piece of cinnamon, 1 1/2pint of ivater, 1 glass of sherry wine (if liked).
Peel half the lemon rind as thinly as possible, and put it in a well tinned stewpan, add to it the juice of the lemon, and the remainder of the above named ingredients. Stir constantly with a whisk over the fire until it boils, draw the pan to the side of the fire and keep it there for about ten minutes. Put a chair upside down on the side of a tsible top, place a .fine towel across it, fasten the four ends with string on to the four legs, place a basin underneath, pass some boiling water through it, then pour through it the jelly and let it run into a clean basin. Repeat this two or three times till quite clear. Pour the clarified jelly into moulds and let set in a cool place. To turn out, immerse the mould in tepid water, wipe the mould and immediately turn out into a dish. A few drops of cochineal can be added to the jelly if a pink or reddish tint is desired. Any kind of fruit, oranges, tangerines, apricots, peaches, cherries, &c., may be set in moulds with this jelly, allowing each layer of fruit and jelly to set before another is added.
Source: Practical Cookery Manual ©1898

ORANGE FRITTERs. Peel,and slice(or quarter)three oranges,and lay them in powdered or granulated sugar an hour or more before making the fritters; mix to a smooth batter four teaspoonfuls of flour, a saltspoonful of salt, the yolk of a raw egg, and about a gill of milk. When ready to use the batter, add to it one teaspoonful of oliye-oil, or melted butter, and the white of one egg beaten to a froth; dip the slices of orange into the batter, lift them out flat with a silver fork, and put them into smoking hot fat: fry light brown, lay them for a moment on a napkin or brown paper to a sorb all fat, sprinkle them with powdered sugar, and serve hot. A very delicate and delicious dessert. MRS. HAMILTON QUIN
Source 265 Choice Recipes ©1883

ORANGE BASKETS
Cut as many oranges as guests, leaving half the peel whole for the basket and a strip half a inch wide for the handle. Remove the pulp and juice and use the juice to make the orange jelly. Place the basket in a pan of broken ice to keep upright, fill them with the orange jelly; when ready to serve place a spoonful of whipped cream over the jelly in each basket; serve in a bed of orange leaves. To make the jelly: Six juicy oranges, one lemon, one pound of loaf sugar, half a box of Cox’s Gelatine; dissolve sugar in half a pint of water, pour half a pint of boiling water over gelatine, when dissolved strain it; put the sugar and water on the fire, when it boils add gelatine, juice of oranges and lemon with a little of the peel grated in, let all boil up and strain into the baskets to cool.

ORANGE MARMALADE - Mrs. Smith
Allow pound for pound. Pare half the oranges and cut the rind in pieces, boil in three waters, until tender, and then set aside. Grate the rind of the remaining oranges, take off and throw away the thick, white, inner skin; quarter all the oranges and remove the seeds; chop or cut into small pieces. Drain all thejuice that will conne, over the sugar; heat this, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, adding a little water, unless the oranges are very juicy, boil for five minutes, add the boiled shreds and boil for ten minutes; then add the chopped fruit and grated rind, and boil for twenty minutes. Seal in glass tumblers.

ORANGE MARMALADE - Miss. Allen
One dozen good oranges; cover with cold water and boil for fifteen minutes. Take out, pour off the water, cover again with cold water and boil until a broom straw will readily pierce them; this will take possibly two hours. When soft, remove from the water, cut open, and with a spoon scoop out the inside, taking care to remove every seed. With a sharp knife or scissors, cut into thin strips two-thirds of the skins. rejecting the rest. Add this to the last boiling water; weigh, and to one pound of the mixture add one and one-fourth pounds of sugar. Boil until thick, and put up like jelly.

ORANGE CAKE - Mrs. Marshall
Two cupfuls of sugar, one cupful of butter, one cupful of sweet milk, three cupfuls of flour, yolks of five eggs and whites of two, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, grated peel and juice of an orange; bake in four layers. Filling—
Whites of three eggs, juice of an orange, fifteen tablespoonfuls of sugar. Beat together, spread between the layers and 1 on the outside of the cake. Pare and divide in small sections two oranges, and put on top of cake.
Source: Santa Rosa Recipes ©1891

Tidbit on Storing Oranges
I ran across this information years ago and posted it: Storing Oranges