During the 1800s, oranges were a seasonal crop and not available year-round.

“The first orange crop of the season usually reaches the market about the end of October. The early Floridas are first and they are closely followed by the Arizona navels, and just before Christmas, comes the bulk of California and Florida oranges.”

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

TO KEEP ORANGES
Oranges may be kept fresh for weeks by placing them in a vessel of cold water in a very cool cellar or ice house. Change the water every day. The usual method employed by growers for keeping these fruits is to wrap each one separately in tissue paper, and put in a cool, dry place.

Another way — Dry and bake some clean sand and when it is cold, put it into a vessel. Place on it a layer of oranges with the stalk end downwards so that they do not touch each other, and cover them with the sand two inches deep. This will keep them in a good state of preservation for several months. 

Or — Freeze the fruit and keep them in an ice-house. When used, they are to be thawed in cold water, and will be good at any time of the year.

ORANGE BUTTER
Boil six hard eggs and beat them in a mortar with two ounces of fine sugar, three ounces of butter, and two ounces of blanched almonds beaten to a paste. Moisten with orange-flower water and when all is mixed, rub it through a colander onto a dish and serve between sweet biscuits.

ORANGE CHIPS
Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve, and soak the peels in water. Next day, boil them in the same water till tender. Then drain and slice the peels. Add them to the juice, weigh as much sugar, and put all together into a broad earthen dish. Place the dish at a moderate distance from the fire, often stirring till the chips turn to candy, and then set them in a cool room to dry, which commonly requires about three weeks.

ORANGE FOOL
Mix the juice of three Seville oranges, three eggs well beaten, a pint of cream, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, and sweeten it to taste. Set the whole over a slow fire, stir it till it becomes as thick as good melted butter, but it must not be boiled. Then pour it into a dish for eating cold.

ORANGE CREAM
Boil the rind of a Seville orange very tender, and beat it fine in a mortar. Add to it a spoonful of the best brandy, the juice of a Seville orange, four ounces of loaf sugar,* and the yolks of four eggs. Beat them all together for ten minutes. Then by gentle degrees, pour in a pint of boiling cream, and beat it up till cold. Set some custard cups into a deep dish of boiling water, pour the cream into the cups, and let it stand again till cold. Put at the top some small strips of orange paring cut thin, or some preserved chips.

*loaf sugar – sugar sold in a hard block, which has to be broken and then pounded into sugar granules.

ORANGE JAM
Lay half a dozen oranges in water four or five days, changing the water once or twice every day. Take out the oranges, and wipe them dry. Tie them up in separate cloths, and boil them four hours in a large kettle, changing the water once or twice. Peel off the rinds and pound them well in a marble mortar, with two pounds of fine sugar to one pound of orange. Then beat all together, and cover the jam down in a pot.

ORANGE PUDDING
Grate the rind of a Seville orange, put to it six ounces of fresh butter, and six or eight ounces of lump sugar pounded. Beat them all in a marble mortar, and add at the same time the whole of eight eggs well beaten and strained. Scrape a raw apple, and mix it with the rest. Put a paste round the bottom and sides of the dish, and over the orange mixture lay cross bars of paste. Half an hour will bake it.

ORANGE WINE
To six gallons of water, put fifteen pounds of soft sugar. Before it boils, add the whites of six eggs well beaten, and take off the scum as it rises. When cold, add the juice of fifty oranges, and two thirds of the peels cut very thin, and immerse a toast covered with yeast. In a month after it has been in the cask, add a pint of brandy, and two quarts of Rhenish wine. It will be fit to bottle in three or four months, but it should remain in bottles for twelve months before it is drunk.

SALADE D’ORANGE
Pare and slice large sweet oranges; sprinkle powdered sugar thickly over each slice, and pour a couple of glasses of wine on the top. Sprinkle powdered sugar overall, and serve at once or the fruit will lose its freshness. You may omit the wine if you like.

Do not let any fruit intended to be eaten fresh for dessert lie in the sugar longer than is absolutely necessary. It extracts the flavor and withers the pulp.

ORANGE SYRUP
Grate very lightly the rind from one dozen oranges and then place three pounds of sugar and the grated rind and the juice of oranges in a clean saucepan. Place where it will heat very slowly and then the sugar will melt. Stir frequently and do not let it boil. Cover closely and then strain into sterilized bottles. Place the bottles in a hot-water bath and process for forty minutes. Place the corks in the bottles and when cool, dip in melted sealing wax. This recipe may be divided. To be used for making drinks, sauces, etc.

ORANGE FRITTERS
Pare three oranges and then with a sharp knife cut into one-half inch slices. Dip the slices in flour, then into a batter, and fry until golden brown in hot fat.

The Batter – Break one egg in a cup and then fill with milk. Place in a bowl and add one and one-half cups flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, one-fourth teaspoon salt, and two tablespoons sugar.

Serve orange fritters with orange syrup.

ORANGE PEEL
Scrape out all the pulp, soak the peels in water, and stir them every day. In a week’s time put them in fresh water, and repeat it till all the bitterness is extracted. Boil the peels in fresh water over a slow fire till they are quite tender, and reduce the liquor to a quantity sufficient to boil it to a thick syrup. Put the peels into the syrup, simmer them gently, take them out of the syrup, and let them cool. Lay them to dry in the sun, and the peel will be nicely candied.

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