# Home-made orange brandy



## Alcalaina

I have just sampled the orange brandy I made three weeks ago and it is really nice. Dead easy to make: pare the rind off four oranges with a potato peeler or sharp knife (avoid the white stuff) and put it in a jug with a bottle of cheapo Spanish brandy and a cup of sugar. Cover and leave for two weeks, shaking it occasionally, then strain and pour into a screw-top bottle. Leave for another week, then imbibe ... Not exactly Cointreau but not bad for a fiver!


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## thrax

Alcalaina said:


> I have just sampled the orange brandy I made three weeks ago and it is really nice. Dead easy to make: pare the rind off four oranges with a potato peeler or sharp knife (avoid the white stuff) and put it in a jug with a bottle of cheapo Spanish brandy and a cup of sugar. Cover and leave for two weeks, shaking it occasionally, then strain and pour into a screw-top bottle. Leave for another week, then imbibe ... Not exactly Cointreau but not bad for a fiver!


The oranges on our trees in the garden are starting to drop... I have a few recipes for them but how much orange ice can you eat/drink? I will definitely have a go at this one - thanks Acalaina :clap2:


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## thrax

Here are some more orange recipes since there are a lot around atm.

Orange creme caramel:
300g sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
grated rind of one orange
600ml freshly squeezed orange juice

Boil half the sugar and 125ml water to form a golden brown caramel. Pour the caramel into 4 individual ramekins, tilting the ramekins so that the bottoms and sides are evenly covered. Mix the eggs, egg yolks and orange rind with the remaining sugar, but do not beat so much that it becomes frothy. Now bring the orange juice to the boil; then leave to cool a little and begin stirring into the egg mixture. Pour this mixture through a fine sieve and divide between the ramekins. Cook in a bain-marie in a pre-heated oven at 150C for about 50 minutes. Make sure the water does not evaporate and top up if necessary with boiling water. Leave to cool and refrigerate overnight. Before serving, briefly immerse the base of each ramekin in hot water and turn out the desert onto a plate.

Orange Ice

250g sugar
100ml orange juice
300ml light cream
juice of 1/2 lemon

Bring the sugar to a boil in 125ml water until a clear syrup is formed, then remove from the heat. Add the orange juice and mix with the cream and lemon juice. freeze the mixture. Serve in halved, hollowed out orange shells.

Orange Sorbet

500ml freshely squeezed orange juice
150g sugar
2 1/2 tbsp orange liqueur (use the stuff from the first post!!)
2 egg whites

Mix the orange juice well with the sugar and orange liqueur. Transfer to a bowl and place in the freezer until frozen. Beat the egg white until soft peaks form and carefull fold into the frozen orange juice. Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours whisking now and then to prevent crystals forming - or use an ice-cream maker to churn it if you have one (like I do) Eat and enjoy!!!


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## Alcalaina

thrax said:


> The oranges on our trees in the garden are starting to drop... I have a few recipes for them but how much orange ice can you eat/drink? I will definitely have a go at this one - thanks Acalaina :clap2:


Orange ice? Sounds good, please share!

I have also made orange pickle (like the lime pickle you eat with curries, very hot). Still pickling so haven´t tried it yet.


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## thrax

Alcalaina said:


> Orange ice? Sounds good, please share!
> 
> I have also made orange pickle (like the lime pickle you eat with curries, very hot). Still pickling so haven´t tried it yet.


Recipe for orange ice is above!!!! I love making lime pickle so would be interested in your orange pickle recipe!!


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## Alcalaina

thrax said:


> Recipe for orange ice is above!!!! I love making lime pickle so would be interested in your orange pickle recipe!!


You could just substitute sour oranges for limes I suppose ....?

The recipe I used came from an Indian website so the English is a little strange. I got the sesame oil in Morrisons in Gibraltar, where they have a good ethnic food section; not sure how easy it would be to get in Spain.


Put four sour oranges in a pan of boiling water. Close the pan with a lid and let the oranges cook for about 15 mins.

Cut the oranges into small wedges. A word of caution - the juice starts to flow out the minute you cut the orange. So, keep a mixing bowl next to this - squeeze out the juice a little bit in it and then cut the orange. Remove all seeds and discard. 

Put all the wedges and the juice in a mixing bowl and leave until cool. When completely cooled, add 4 tbsp of salt and 4 tbsp red chilli powder. Gently mix with a fork - just about 4-5 strokes. Don't mix it too much.

Now, you will need Sesame Oil (Nalla ennai) to make pickles. This is the only oil suggested for pickles. I don't know why - maybe this oil helps keep the pickle for a long time. Heat up the oil in a pan. When the oil is really hot, add about 1 tsp of mustard seeds. And also a pinch of asofoetida powder. The oil has to reach a really hot smoking point.

Pour the hot hot hot oil directly over the pickle mix. 

You can hear the big Hisssss sound and see that the hot oil literally cooks all the pickle mix. Soon, the red chilli powder will start to float to the top. The thing to keep in mind is that at any point, there should be about 1 inch of oil on top of the pickle pieces. This acts as a preservative and keeps the pickle fresh.

When all the bubbles have settled, and the mixture is cooled down well, transfer this into a pickle jar, or a glass bottle or container that is completely dry. From this point, the pickle should not come into contact with water or any other moisture.* There should be at least 2 cm of oil over the top of the oranges.


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## thrax

I'll give it a try - thanks. Try the orange ice above it is delicious. There is a supermarket in Nerja called Iranzo where you can get almost anything including sesame oil and all ethnic products so no problems there...


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## thrax

Alcalaina said:


> I have just sampled the orange brandy I made three weeks ago and it is really nice. Dead easy to make: pare the rind off four oranges with a potato peeler or sharp knife (avoid the white stuff) and put it in a jug with a bottle of cheapo Spanish brandy and a cup of sugar. Cover and leave for two weeks, shaking it occasionally, then strain and pour into a screw-top bottle. Leave for another week, then imbibe ... Not exactly Cointreau but not bad for a fiver!


OK you will be pleased to know that my home made Grand Marnier is now in a jug waiting the excrutiating 3 weeks to mature... I'll let you know if I'm sober enough


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