Candied orange peels

One of the things that I am consciously trying to do these days is reduce the amount of waste that is produced by my household. Though I still have a long way to go to be zero waste, I am on the path towards this goal. To this end, I now take my own cloth shopping bags to the stores, use reusable storage bags to store fresh produce and am trying my best to avoid single use plastics. Most vegetable peels are turned into stock and I make my own household cleaner with citrus peels. This time, though, I tried something different with orange peels. I made candied orange peels. This is quite an easy recipe, though it requires a little bit of time. The candied peels add great flavor to simple bakes like breads and cakes.

To make candied orange peels, you will need:
Peels from 3 oranges (washed and sliced into thin, long strips)
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Boil 7-8 cups of water in a large saucepan. When it starts to boil, add the orange peels and let it boil uncovered, for 5 minutes. Drain and repeat the process again. This is done to remove the bitterness of the peels. If the peels are very bitter, you can boil and drain the water thrice. The orange peels that I used this time were not very bitter and it was enough to boil them twice.
Heat half a cup of water in a pan. Add sugar to it. Once the sugar dissolves, add the orange peels and let them cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes. Remove the peels onto a cooling rack and leave them to dry overnight. If there is any sugar syrup left, you can use it in smoothies or juices. Store the peels in an airtight container.

Do check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 84.

The softest and best cake ever

This cake has the record of making it in the shortest time from kitchen to blog. Seriously, I just made it, clicked some pics and ate a slice a few minutes back.
The little one is staying home today because of a fever and that means, I have to endlessly search for means to keep her entertained. A cake seemed like a good idea...she was involved in measuring out the ingredients and stirring them for me. And then, while it baked, she stood guard next to the microwave, telling me every few minutes that it was ready.
The original recipe is from here. I tweaked it a little to use up some of the stuff that's been in my fridge for a while.
As far as ingredients go, I had all the stuff on hand. So, some dates and candied fruit were soaked in hot milk and then ground. An egg that threatened to hatch into a chick if I didn't use it up soon went into the mixture. A dash of cinnamon, some oil, sugar and maida later, into the oven the cake went. What came out is the softest, darkest, and undoubtedly the best cake I've ever made.

What you need:
Maida/All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Dates+candied fruit - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Egg -1
Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Cashew nut - a few

Soak the dates and candied fruit in hot milk for 30-40 minutes. Grind to a smooth paste along with sugar and the egg. Transfer this to a mixing bowl. Add oil. Stir well. Mix in the flour, little by little, stirring well. Add cinnamon....inhale its heady smell.....throw in some cashews....mix well.
Transfer this to a greased microwave safe cake pan. I used a loaf pan, as I wanted to cut these into tea cakes. Bake in convection mode at 175 degree celsius for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

This goes to Valli's MEC which is being hosted by PJ MEC-Favourites and to Valli's 365 days of microwave cooking.

Edited to add : People who ate this cake liked it texture, but felt that it should have been sweeter. The original recipe calls for 3/4 cups of sugar, while I used only 1/2 cup. I like my cakes to be slightly less sweet....but if you want yours sweet, please do use more sugar.