Iced Oranges (French)

Serves 8

Preparation time:

Cooking/Baking time:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup water
• orange zest of 4 oranges
• 14 medium oranges
• 6 tbsp water
• 8 fresh bay leaves/lime leaves

Method:

1. Put the sugar in a saucepan. Add half the lemon juice, water and orange zest and cook over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Bring to boil and boil it for 2-3 minutes until the syrup is clear. Leave to cool.
3. Slice the tops off the eight of the oranges, to make ‘hats’. Scoop out the flesh of the oranges and place in a bowl.
4. Put the orange shells and tops on a tray and freeze it until needed.
5. Squeeze the orange juice of the remaining oranges and from the reserved flesh. It should come to 3 cups. Squeeze more oranges to make up to the required amount.
6. Stir the orange juice and the remaining lemon juice with the syrup. Taste, adding more lemon juice or sugar as per your taste. Pour the mixture into a shallow freezer container and freeze for 3 hours.
7. Turn the mixture into a bowl, and whisk to break down the crystals. Freeze for another 4 hours more, until firm but not solid.
8. Scoop the frozen mixture into the orange shells, mounting it up and set the hats on top. Freeze until ready to serve. Just before serving, push a skewer into the tops of the hat and push in a bay/lime leaf.