Candied citrus peel tastes a little like Christmas, looks rather beautiful and best of all, turns something destined for the compost into something worth celebrating.
“Yum, just like Christmas!” was the response when my Englishman spotted me photographing these candied citrus. I have a mental block when it comes to glace cherries, hunks of candied ginger or Turkish Delight. But, when candied fruit is (a) homegrown and (b) homemade with patience and love, it presents itself as a moreish offering and a distant cry from plastic packaged goods that have been imported from who-knows-where.
I may just be turning a corner! What’s there not to love about homegrown and homemade candied citrus!?
You can use orange, mandarin, lemon, grapefruit… or a mixture of whatever citrus you happen to have. This is a brilliant way to use the skins left behind after juicing. The finished peel is soft, chewy and succulent rather than completely dehydrated – somewhere between a traditional candied peel and a citrus fruit jube.
What brought me great delight was to use ALL types of backyard citrus that is so prevalent at this time of year: grapefruit, orange, mandarin and lemon. There are no hard and fast rules for this recipe. I had squeezed a lot of juice by hand (the fruit is so ripe it is hardly a hard task) and had plenty of peel left over. With a successful brew of Orange Vinegar – DIY Cleaner already under my belt, I wanted to try something different with my citrus rinds.
How to use Candied Citrus
- Enjoy as a sweet snack straight from the jar – obviously!
- chop finely, or leave in strands to adorn baking or desserts
- add to homemade granola
- dip one end in melted dark chocolate
- chop and fold through chocolate bark
- package up for a delicious looking homemade gift
Don’t throw away that syrup!
The sugar syrup left over in the saucepan after cooking this recipe is intensely citrusy and far too good to waste. Strain it and refrigerate in a clean jar and use it to:
- sweeten sparkling water
- make cocktails or mocktails
- drizzle over cakes
- sweeten iced tea
- spoon over yoghurt or ice cream
- poach fruit
- drizzle over fruit salad
Wash your fruit
Whether peeling citrus or using it whole, it is recommended that you scrub it first. Even home-grown citrus would benefit from a wash before use, as garden fertilisers whether directly applied to the soil or foliage, or even residue may drift onto fruit from other parts of the garden. If using store bought fruit, the odds are there may be a filmy wax applied to all fruit (including the likes of apples too) to help with its shelf life. A good scrub and a rub will remove any residue.
Candied Citrus Peel
Ingredients
- as much citrus peel as you can handle
- water
- white sugar
Method
- Wash and scrub the fruit well before using, particularly if store-bought.
- Remove the flesh from the peel: if you’re using citrus that has already been squeezed, cut the remaining skins into manageable wedges (eg: 8ths) then cut out the flesh. TIP: Flatten the skin, flesh facing up. Using a vegetable knife, slide the blade between the skin and the flesh, running it flat. It will remove any remnants of flesh and may pick up some white pith along the way, but that’s okay. It’s easier to do this when the citrus is cut into smaller wedges than try to navigate your knifing skills on a larger piece. The trick is being able to bend the peel flat, the rest is easy.
- Cut peel into strips approx 5-10mm wide.
- Blanch #1: Put peel into a saucepan and cover generously with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain.
- Blanch #2: Repeat the process.
- Blanch #3: For sweet mandarins and oranges, twice may be plenty. Lemon and grapefruit can be more bitter so give it a third blanch in fresh water as previously.
- After the final blanch cover the peel with fresh water and simmer gently for approx 3 cups water to 3 cups white sugar). Heat gently and stir until sugar has dissolved.
- Add cooked peel to the sugar syrup and simmer for 30-45 minutes. The peel is ready when it looks glossy and increasingly translucent while still holding its shape.
- Turn off the heat and leave peel to cool in the syrup for several hours (or overnight).
- Lift peel from the syrup using a slotted spoon and allow the excess syrup to drip away. Arrange strips in a single layer on a wire rack over a lined baking tray on low at 50°C for approx 60 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Sprinkle sugar onto a baking paper lined tray, allow each citrus slither to be rolled in a sugar dusting, then spread out to dry naturally for around an hour.
- Devour immediately or pack into an airtight container, where it will live happily for several weeks.
Enjoy!
Original Post: Aug 2017
