San Giuliano Orange Slices in Syrup

The Marchesi di San Giuliano estate is located on the east coast of Sicily, in the foothills of Mt. Etna, an area boasting some of the most fertile soil in all of Sicily—and an abundance of citrus trees. In this gorgeous product, they've preserved the prized Sicilian blood orange. The oranges are sliced into 1/4-inch rounds, blanched in water to remove the bitterness and then slowly cooked in simple syrup (made with organic cane sugar). The candied orange slices are then gently layered into jars and topped with a reduction of the cooking liquid blended with a touch of organic brandy.

Use the whole orange rounds as a garnish for cakes, from cheesecakes to traditional Cassata Siciliana (a classic Sicilian sponge cake filled with lightly sweetened ricotta cream, wrapped in marzipan and garnished with candied fruit). Or use the whole orange slices as a base for orange upside-down cake.

The quartered orange slices also make a lovely garnish for desserts of all kinds. We love them spooned over ice cream, rice pudding and panna cotta, just to name a few. And don't forget about the syrup once the orange slices are gone! Use as a zesty sweetener in cocktails and drinks (Our favorite? A couple teaspoons of syrup and a splash of Aperol topped off with Prosecco—cin cin!).

For an easy yet showstopping 4-ingredient dessert, whisk a couple tablespoons of the syrup from the jar into fresh ricotta. Serve a dollop of this citrus-sweetened ricotta alongside slices of pound cake (store bought is fine, we won't tell) and garnish with quarters of Marchesi di San Giuliano Orange Slices and chopped Sicilian pistachios.