Craqueline

Candied oranges... kinda sounds nasty, right? Whenever I think of candied fruit I think of Fruit Cake. EW.

This is not a pastry with nasty candied fruit in it, though. This is Brioche hugging homemade candied navel oranges and covered in sugar and almonds. Sounds lovely, right? I'll take two.

I wasn't planning on making these, but I like to change my mind. Quite frequently. After reading the ingrediants and instructions, I wanted to taste these. To taste these candied oranges. Just to let you know, I could eat the candied oranges by themselves. They're that good. And the smell! Oh, delicious.

Nothing better than a pile of delicious pastries giving off a scent the makes your mom wake up from a nap and say, "Smells good, what are you making?"

Yes, these ARE candied oranges. Not the sugared fruit you're thinking of that are artificially dyed other colors. No, these were made with three ingredients: navel oranges, sugar, and water. So little, so good.

I like the taste of raw Brioche... it reminds me of that cinnamon roll dough from the can. Weird, I know. I just have a thing for it.

Okay, so I didn't do a very good job telling you how to fold the Brioche over the oranges in the instructions. So, start like this. See, 2/3 covered with the oranges.

Fold the uncovered 1/3 up over the oranges.

Then fold the flap of oranges over the Brioche you just folded up.

Cut...

Let rise...

Make the sugar/almond topping...

Cover with the almond topping and bake!

Oh, I forgot the last step: EAT!

Craqueline
(Adapted from Flour)


Candied Oranges:
2 navel oranges
3 cups sugar
4 cups water

1/2 recipe Brioche
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
1. For the candied oranges, slice the stem and blossom ends off both oranges. Slice the oranges into 1/4 inch thick slices.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil.
3. Add the oranges and reduce heat to very low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 hours, until the orange rind is soft and sweet instead of bitter.
4. Place the oranges and syrup into a container and let cool completely.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the brioche into a a rectangle 20 by 10 inches.
6. Remove the oranges from syrup and chop, discard syrup. Spoon the oranges over the top 2/3 of the brioche. Fold the bottom third of brioche over the oranges, this should cover half of the oranges. Fold the top third down to create two layers of oranges within the brioche.
7. Cut this rectangle into 10 pieces, each 2 by 3 inches.
8. Place the pastries on the baking sheet and let puff up in a warm spot for 2 hours.
9. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, the egg until blended, then add in the sugar and and almonds. Spread this over the entire top of each pastry. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown the the pastry is golden all throughout.