After watching couples be sickly sweet in their Valentine’s Day bliss, drown your loneliness in your own sugary deliciousness! These chocolate-covered candied orange peels are the perfect dessert to finish a melancholy dinner for one. Ditch that spoon and pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and instead indulge at the expense of your pancreas—your wounded heart won’t take another blow.

Gosh, that sounded darker than I intended. In all seriousness, these tasty morsels are as appropriate for the romantically successful as they are for embittered loners like me. Why, you could even present them as an adorable homemade gift to your love interest—consider arranging them like French fries in a cardboard sleeve with an accompanying note reading, “I’m lovin’ you.” (Can you believe I’m single?) Or, if your significant other doesn’t look fondly on gimmicks, simply enjoy this classic combination of zesty orange and dark chocolate as a classy dessert together.

I’ve been on something of a grapefruit binge lately and originally wanted to experiment with candied grapefruit peel as an alternative means of ingesting my new favorite fruit. To my dismay, I learned that grapefruit peel is extremely bitter, and thus requires a tedious process of repeated blanching to render it even remotely palatable. Oranges are an easier substitute. More fervent grapefruit fanatics are welcome to try this recipe using grapefruit skin, although I’d recommend blanching the peel at least a few more times than is called for below.

The toughest part of this recipe is boiling the orange peel long enough to extract the bitterness but not so long that you lose the rest of its orangey flavor. I suggest blanching it twice for two minutes each time. Seriously, watch the clock. Overboiling the peel gives it a texture close to that of limp foam rubber, in which case you’d be better off just eating the molten chocolate. Every cloud, right?
Chocolate-covered Candied Orange Peel
Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

2 large oranges
1 cup sugar or honey
1 1/2 cups water
12 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Cut off the top and bottom of each orange. Score the orange skin longitudinally for easy removal. Peel the orange, keeping the skin intact as best you can.
2. Slice the peel vertically into strips about a half centimeter wide. Shave most of the white, foamy layer from each strip.
3. Boil the orange peel in a small saucepan for two minutes. Remove the peel, replace the water, and then repeat the process.
4. In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water with the sugar or honey. Keep over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange peel to the sugar syrup. Let simmer for one hour.
5. Strain the peel and set aside on a rack to dry. (To accelerate the drying process, spread out the peel on a cookie sheet, bake at 200 degrees for 10 minutes, and then let cool.)
6. In a double boiler or saucepan, melt the chocolate chips. If using a saucepan, keep over low heat and stir constantly to prevent burning. Dip each slice of orange peel into the chocolate, turning to coat completely. Lay the slices on parchment paper and keep in a cool place to solidify.