Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Oranges, Compote of.— Pare the rind very thinly off three or four large sound oranges. Cut the fruit across into halves, removing the white skin and pips, and pile the oranges in a glass dish. Boil the rind with half a pint of -water and a quarter of a pound of sugar until the syrup is clear; mix a table-spoonful of brandy with it, and strain it over the fruit. When cold it is ready to serve. A table-spoonful of arrowroot may be mixed with the sp-up to thicken it, and two or three drops of cochineal may be put by way of colouring. Time, five or ten minutes to boil the syrup. Probable cost, exclusive of the brandy, 4d. Sufficient for three or four persons. Oranges Pilled with Jelly.— When a large variety of dishes is required, orange-skins are sometimes emptied entirely of the fruit, cut out in the shape of baskets, and filled with bright clear jelly of different colours. They look pretty ; very great care and a sharp knife, however, are required to make them. The handle of the basket should be cut across the stalk-end of the fruit, and should be fully half A OKA>'GES FILLED WITH JELLY. an inch wide. The basket-part should take up half of the orange. The best way to make these baskets is to mark out their shape first without piercing the fruit, then talie away the quarters of the rind which will not be required, and pass the flat part of a tea-spoon carefully under the handle to separate it from the fruit, which must then be pressed out through the empty spaces. The jelly should be nearly cold before it is put into the skins. Probable cost, oranges. Id. each. Sufficient, eight for a dish. Oranges in Syrup (a dessert dish). —Peel four or five large oranges, and remove all the white pith and thready parts without injuring in the slightest degree the thin transparent skin which covers the fruit. Boil half a pound of loaf sugar in a quarter of a pint of water to a clear syrup, add a wine-glassful of maraschino or any other liqueur or spirit that may be preferred, and pour the hot liquid over the oranges. Let them remain for three or four hours, then •turn them over ; boil the syrup up once more, and pour it again upon the oranges. Serve in a compote dish, and garnish with sprigs of myrtle. The quantity of sugar used for the syrup must depend upon the season, and if it is early in the winter, and the oranges are sour, a larger proportion of sugar should be used, and besides this the oranges should be boiled in the syrup for a few minutes. Time, ten minutes to boil the syrup. Probable cost, exclusive of the spirit, 6d. Sufficient for four or five persons. Oranges, Moulded (a pretty supper dish). — This dish, though very pretty, is rather difficult to prepare. Peel three or four large oranges, being careful not to break the thin skin which divides them. Oil a small plain mould MOULDED OriANGES. thoroughly. Boil a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar in three table-spoonfuls of water to crackling height, dip the edges of the orange-sections into this, arrange them in layers round the sides only of the mould, and fasten them together with the sugar. When they are firm, turn them on a dish, and fill the centre with whipped cream. Time, ten or twelve minutes to boil the sugar. Probable cost, exclusive of the cream, 6d. Sufficient for a small mould.