Canning Oranges in Cointreau

I needed AN orange for a recipe I was making, but when I was at the grocery store, I just couldn't see paying a dollar for ONE orange when I could get a whole bag of them for $5! So I bought the bag of oranges and used one in my recipe... I had like 13 left! What to do?

I dug through my recipes and found a yummy sounding recipe... Oranges in Cointreau... Why not?

Here's what I did...

First, I made a spice bag (using a coffee filter, you can also use the traditional cheesecloth) with...

10 whole cloves
5 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

I tied the spices up in my coffee filter using a twist tie.

In my large stainless steel saucepan, I combined...

3-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water

Then I dropped in my spice bag...

 ... and brought this mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. I reduced the heat and boiled the mixture gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then removed and discarded the spice bag.

Meanwhile I trimmed, sliced, and seeded 9 navel oranges (about 1/8 inch slices) then I cut the slices in half (because these were pretty big oranges).

I added the oranges to the sugar/water mixture, along with

3/4 cup Cointreau (if you can't find Cointreau, Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, or other orange liqueur may be used)

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)

 Over medium-low heat, I brought the mixture slowly back to a boil, occasionally stirring gently so as not to damage the orange slices. Once it came to a boil, I removed the pot from the heat.

 Using a slotted spoon, I carefully packed the hot orange slices loosely in layers, in my hot, sterilized pint jars (you could also use half pint jars) to within a generous half inch of the top of the jar.

 I then ladled hot syrup (from the orange mixture in the saucepan) into the jar to cover the orange slices, leaving a half inch headspace. I removed any air bubbles, wiped the jar rims with a damp cloth, and tightened my lids on to fingertip tightness.

I processed the jars in a boiling water bath, ensuring they were completely covered with water. I brought the water to a boil and processed the jars for 15 minutes.

After processing, I removed the jars from the canner using my jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool and to listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar.

This delicious fruity concoction is wonderful spooned over ice cream or pound cake, or the orange slices can be used as an edible garnish and the leftover juice used to sweeten beverages... and let me tell you, the syrup is SO SO yummy... I had a little left over and just canned one jar of juice alone!

This recipe makes about eight 8-ounce jars. (I had a few extra oranges and canned in pints, so ended up with six pints plus one pint of just syrup)

For a printable copy of this recipe, click here.