California navel oranges are fabulous right now. I have been experimenting with drying them in the oven. It is essential to soak up most of the juice with paper towel. The slices that were untreated were drowning in juice. Those left with their skin on were bitter. I dipped some in sugar; these were just sweet, but not very orangey. The best ones were the thinly sliced, unsweetened orange slices with the skin and most of the pith removed.
OVEN DRIED ORANGE SLICES
navel oranges• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
• Wash and dry the oranges.
• Cut the bottom and the top off.
• Slice the oranges on their belly as thinly as possible.
• With a sharp knife cut away the skin and most of the pith.
• Place the orange slices between layers of paper towel and press out the juices.
• Lay the orange slices on a parchment lined baking pan.
• The slices can touch, but do not layer them.
• Bake in a 200F oven for 2 hours.
• Store the orange slices in a single layer between wax paper.
• Use these for cake decoration.
