oranges | Sheree's Warm Fuzzies

In visiting coffee houses around the country for inspiration for my new book, Coffee Coma – poems & photos about our love affair & life with coffee, I discovered that the baristas experiment with many flavors whether spicy, nutty, sweet or citrusy.

Brown sugar vanilla is one of my favorites, but channel orange is running a close second. As a matter of fact, I’m drinking an iced brown sugar orange latte right now.

The baristas use powdered orange peels that are dried and ground in a process, to add flavor to the lattes and cappuccino.

The recipe for powdered orange peels, and an orange latte is listed below —

Peel two oranges with a potato peeler trying not to include the pith (the stringy white part of the peel).

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Lay peels on a baking sheet lined with two layers of parchment paper.

Place peels on baking tray.

Place tray in oven for 15 minutes. Remove tray and check to see if the peel cracks when you bend it in half with your hand. If it doesn’t, place the tray back in over for another 15 minutes.

It took me three tries or 45 minutes for my peels to crack.

Let cool for an hour or longer.

Place a small amount of peel in a pestle and grind to a powder consistency.

Store in a glass container.

I like to add about ½ teaspoon powdered peel to my hot or cold espresso drinks.

You can add the peel to the portafilter with the ground coffee if you have an espresso machine. This way the orange flavor mixes with the coffee.

Another option – add peel to the bottom of the shot glass so the orange powder mixes the espresso as it pulls and drips into the glass.

I add about 1 teaspoon brown sugar to sweeten.

Pour over foamed milk for a hot drink, or pour over foamed milk and add ice for a cold drink.

Next project – candied orange peels. This will eliminate having to add sugar.

Peace, Love and Coffee,

Sheree