With traditional Easter desserts being full of both animal products and gluten, we thought that, instead of trying to conform ingredients to those traditional desserts, we would introduce some fresh ideas to become future traditions. Celebrating the time of year, the current harvests from the earth and appreciating the bounty that the earth has to offer sounds like one of the best ways to honor Easter!

With Easter being on April 8th this year, we noted that delicious naval oranges will be in the peak of their season. We came across this beautiful recipe on Saveur.com and modified it to vegan ingredients. Combining juicy navel oranges, with sweet sugar, spicy cinnamon and delicious muscat, this is sure to be a crowd pleaser! Serve this light dessert after your heavy Easter dinner for a refreshing cool down.

Confit of Oranges Filled with Orange Sorbet

Confit:

• 6 small navel oranges
• 5 cups of vegan sugar
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1 whole star anise

Sorbet:

• 2 cups chilled freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
• 1/2 cup of vegan Muscat, such as Stellar Heaven-on-Earth, which is certified vegan, as well as organic and Fair Trade, or if you do not drink or will be serving children, you can use something along the lines of Guerzoni Biodynamic Mosto D’Uva Grape Juice.

For the confit:

1. Slice 1/2” off the top and 1/4” off the bottom of each orange; then insert a sharp paring knife into each orange’s flesh, cutting only the flesh into quarters and leaving the white pith and rind completely intact. Hollow out each orange by sticking a tablespoon between the flesh and the white pith to cleanly separate them. Then, push out and reserve the flesh for something else, or just eat it, leaving the orange rind shells intact.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat, add hollowed-out rinds, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until rinds are softened slightly, about 15 minutes. Transfer rinds to a plate with a slotted spoon and discard water. To make a simple syrup, combine 4 cups of the sugar with 4 cups water in same pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup of the simple syrup for the sorbet and refrigerate until chilled.
3. Add reserved rinds, cinnamon stick, and star anise to the simmering simple syrup. Place a piece of parchment paper directly on top of rinds and simmer, turning occasionally, until white pith is plump and begins to look translucent and rind is very soft, 30-40 minutes. Set aside until cool. Dredge rinds in remaining 1 cup sugar, arrange on a serving tray, and freeze.

For the sorbet:

Combine orange juice, reserved 3/4 cup chilled simple syrup, and wine in a bowl; pour into ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions. Fill each frozen rind with some of the sorbet.

For the full Saveur article, click here.

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