Canning Oranges in Whiskey

I adore Fireball whiskey-it tastes like cinnamon gummy bears. When this month’s Can It Up was announced as alcohol, I knew I wanted to work with that particular whiskey.

After some discussion with friends it came down to a choice of a boozy apple jam or oranges. The oranges are starting to hit the stores in Buffalo in mass quantity, so I decided to go with oranges for a whiskey cake later this winter.

Definitely supreme your oranges-it cleans off the nasty bits that will (may) cause your canned oranges to go bitter. Make sure to supreme them over the pot you make your syrup in to catch the juice, or supreme them over a bowl and add the juice later. I also juiced the membrane-y bit left over after supreming, because I’m still not that great at it and left a fair amount of meat behind.

Note 1: You may want to raw pack your slices. When I hot packed my supremed oranges and grapefruit, I ended up with shredded citrus bits. I’m fine with that, but if you want whole slices (or perhaps just larger chunks) for your intended usage or presentation purposes, raw pack instead.

Note 2: You can change what alcohol you use in this recipe, just stay with the 2 to 3 tablespoons range. If you want a spiced flavor without the alcohol, add a spice bag to the syrup mixture.

Assorted Citrus-4 navels and a grapefruit gave me a pint and a half pint jar

water and sugar to make a simple syrup-I used a cup of unpacked brown sugar and about 6 cups of water to make my syrup, plus the reserved citrus juice. You can can citrus segments in juice as well, just make sure to boil it.

2 to 3 tablespoons of whiskey per jar

Prep your canning jars. While the canner is coming to a boil, supreme your oranges.

Boil your simple syrup, and when the citrus is completely clean add to the syrup. Bring back to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Gently strain fruit from syrup with a spoon and pack prepped jars. Add syrup, and then add whiskey. Pack to within 1/2 inch of top.

Remove air bubbles with a chop stick and close jars to fingertip tightness. Process for 15 minutes.