blood orange arancello

you'd think
that living in
near terminal sunshine
with
air naturally scented in citrus
would lead a gal
to
evenings on the porch stoop
knees touching elbows
slowly peeling an orange
while
wistfully remembering
her
 first
 love

but
i'm no rube
a blood orange tree
weeping under the weight of its fruit
is meant to be

arancello
which among other things
is
more lustful
than
wistful

arancello

made with blood oranges 

(can be made with any type of orange)

(printable recipe)

4-5 blood oranges--washed and dried

3-4 cardamom pods--crushed (optional)

4 cups grain alcohol (everclear) or vodka

3 cups water

3 cups sugar

1/2 cup blood orange juice-strained

3 Tbs honey

remove the peel from the oranges using a vegetable peeler. be careful to avoid any white pith.  place in a sterilized glass jar or crock.  add the cardamom pods, if using.  pour in the alcohol and cover tightly.

place in a cool dark cupboard for a minimum of 2 weeks and as long as a couple of months

juice the oranges and reserve 1/2 cup in a freezer safe container. freeze for use in the next step of the process.

after 2 weeks or longer, your mixture should look like this

strain to remove the peels and the cardamom seeds

pour liquid into a larger jar

stir together 3 cups of water, 3 cups of sugar, defrosted 1/2 cup orange juice and honey into a saucepan. heat over medium heat, stirring periodically, until the sugars are dissolved and liquid is clear. allow to cool then pour into the strained alcohol.  taste to make sure it is as sweet as you like. if you like a bit more sweetness, make a mixture of equal parts sugar and water and add until you get your desired taste.  cover jar and place in the cool dark cupboard for another 7-10 days.

you may also bottle it at this time and allow the bottles to sit for 7-10 days before using.  this is not critical...you can drink it now, it just gets better with age.  after the waiting period, store in the refrigerator or freezer and serve cold.

you may have seen this previously on 504Main--she featured my recipe in the month of April