Orange zest

Orange zest comes from the top layer of an orange’s peel. It contains natural fruit oils and adds wonderful citrus flavour to savoury recipes or baked goods. It can come in strips or finely grated. Zest can be added to biscuits, frosting and cakes like carrot cake!

Orange peel is made of two parts, the colourful orange zest and white pith. The pith is bitter in taste so when you are ‘zesting’ an orange it shouldn’t be included.

You can zest an orange with a fine grater, a microplane or a zester this will produce a grated zest.

Another method is to use a vegetable peeler or a knife to remove the peel, you may need to trim off the pith and cut to size after.

Remember to wash the orange thoroughly beforehand!

Orange zest nutrition

Orange zest contains flavonoids, which help prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease. It also contains considerable amounts of vitamin C, vitamin A, copper, calcium, magnesium and dietary fibre.