Orange essence vs orange oil help please..................

B

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
My bookclub just read Cleopatra and it is my turn to do dinner. Finding ancient Egyptian recipies is difficult to say the least. So I am using some liberties. I would like to try these caramel nuts but am not sure of the difference between orange essence and orange oil. Google is too helpful either. I feel like 1-2 T of orange oil would be waaay too much. I have orange flower water, would that be better?

Thank you!

http://egyptianfood.org/stuffed-caramel-walnuts-from-cleopatra/print/

 
Barb, I've found several references to "orange blosssom essence"

I'm still looking for a recipe for it. I agree that that much "orange oil" may be too much. I use 1/4 tsp of orange oil when I make applesauce using 8 apples and it gives just a sweet hit.

Some recipes using the phrase "orange essence" recommend taking a bunch of orange zest, dissolving it in a little water and then pushing/straining out and using the densely orange-flavored liquid.

The linked recipe (an Israeli recipe) says that if you substitute "orange water" for orange blossom essence, you need to reduce the liquids, so I don't think you can sub 1:1.

The word for orange blossom essence is ma'ez zahr in Lebanese, so perhaps you can find an Middle Eastern ethnic store that carries it.

http://www.sarahmelamed.com/2010/09/maamouls-a-cross-cultural-cookie/

 
There is a company named Boyajian that makes Pure Lemon Oil which I use to flavor olive oil. They

also make Pure Orange Oil. It is highly concentrated, and in my opinion, tastes much more authentic than orange extract or essence.

http://www.boyajianinc.com/

 
Okay, no time to go back to the Mediterranean grocery. So, I used the zest of

one orange and enough of the orange flower water to make the "dough" stick together. They turned out great. I am more impressed that I only had to throw away one batch of caramel before it worked!

Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it smileys/smile.gif

 
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