Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Orange extract~ Orange you sweet?

Our co-op recently sent us oranges. I was tempted to just eat them, but I also wanted to experiment. I have been reading a lot about making your own extracts, from vanilla to citrus to cinnamon, etc. The idea of having orange extract available to add a little bright citrus note to recipes definitely intrigues me. I always love the taste of oranges, limes, lemons, and grapefruits, and my favorite teas are Earl Grey and orange black, but I just don't have the fruits on hand as often as I would like.  A search of the Internet yields similar recipes repeatedly (and since I have not done this before, I will follow the instructions, mostly).


  ¼ cup filtered water
  ½ cup vodka
  orange zest (peel without white pith)


I had three oranges on hand, so I washed them and peeled the orange off of them (being careful to avoid the pith). I chopped the zest and since I had so much I doubled the water and vodka and split the mix between two 8 oz canning jars. The instructions say to place these in a dark cupboard and shake them once a day for 3-7 days. Of course if you can be patient and leave it to steep it will be a stronger extract. Everything I have read says that this extract is then good for up to a year. I started this last night, and the liquid is already beginning to resemble orange juice. I will post updates when the extract is done.


~On a side note, I decided to juice the oranges fairly aggressively (to get some pulp) and I am planning to use this in a quick bread recipe.

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