The scent of these baked oranges are up there with freshly cut grass, baked bread and chai latte, for me. A Christmas craft that’s ridiculously easy to do and one I do year after year (mostly for the gorgeous smell of it as it’s baking that wafts around the house…).

(There are lots of these little crafts I do each year, you can find them, here).

I used:

• 3 jaffa oranges
• Twine, ribbon or string (I’m always use gold metallic string)

What I did:

1. I set the oven to 90°C (195°F). The low temperature is important as you want the oranges to dry out slowly without burning.
2. While waiting for the oven to warm up, I slice the oranges into 5mm (¼ inch) thick rounds. Trying (but not succeeding) to make them as even as possible so they dry at the same rate. It helps them to dry out quicker in the oven if you use a paper towel to blot some of the excess juice from the orange slices.
3. Line baking trays with baking/parchment paper and lay the oranges so that none are overlapping.
4. Depending on your oven, it will take between 2 and 3 hours for the oranges to bake. I flip the oranges halfway through so that both sides dry evenly. You will want to check on them to make sure they don’t start to burn at any point. If they’re still a little moist after 3 hours, you can leave them in the oven with the door slightly open for a while longer to finish drying.
5. When you’re happy that the orange slices have dried, remove the orange slices from the oven and let them cool completely.
6. Once cool, string the dried orange slices together with twine, ribbon, or string, using a needle or threading by hand. I use gold metallic string and a yarn needle. I don’t tend to add any other decorations but I’ve seen orange garlands looking all snazzy with breads and cinnamon sticks if you’re after something a bit more fancy.
7. We’ve got a pile of logs under our TV shelf and I hang the garland across those, like this: