Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Sweet-sour treat made from discards

Recipe: Candied citrus peel is an old-fashioned favorite

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 14, 2021

Candied citrus peel drying on a rack — Candied citrus peel dries on a rack. The treat is
easy to make from peel you might otherwise

discard. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Candied citrus peel is the original sweet and sour treat. Easy to make, this old-fashioned candy uses what normally would be discarded – the outer peel of oranges, lemons or grapefruit.

“To me, (it’s) the perfect way to end a large meal,” says cookbook author Mark Bittman, the former New York Times food columnist.

Choose thick-skinned varieties of citrus such as navel or Valencia oranges, Eureka or Meyer lemons or grapefruit (especially pink or Cocktail grapefruit). Cara Cara oranges work, too.

The peel is simmered in water to soften the bitter white pith and make it easy to scrape off. Then, the peel is cut into long strips and simmered in syrup. After absorbing the syrup, the peel strips are rolled in sugar, then dried. Covered with sweetness, the peel hardens as it dries.

Grapefruit peel on a cutting board — Grapefruit peel takes a little more work to

candy than orange peel does, but it's worth it.

Grapefruit needs a little extra work. Boil it three times, changing the water each time, to remove any bitterness.

As for sugar, try rolling the peel pieces in demerara sugar. The large granules add crunch along with the sweet-sour flavor.

Candied citrus peel

Makes about 4 dozen pieces

Ingredients:

4 thick-skinned oranges or lemons or 2 grapefruit
2 cups sugar
Water
Demerara sugar or white sugar for rolling

Instructions:

Peel the skin from the fruit, reserving the flesh for another use.

Place the skin in a heavy saucepan and cover with cold water. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until peel is tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup liquid.

If using grapefruit, return peel to pan and cover with cold water. Bring to boil again. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain. Then, repeat process once more, so the grapefruit peel has been boiled and simmered three times.

With a spoon, scrape off pith from the inside of the peel. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut the peel into long strips.

Combine 2 cups sugar with the 1 cup of reserved liquid in the saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Let boil until mixture reaches 236 degrees F. (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer.

Reduce heat to low and return cut peel to the saucepan. Cook peel in syrup over low heat until the peel has absorbed most of the syrup, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let peel cool in the syrup.

Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of demerara or white sugar in a pie plate. When the peel has cooled enough to be handled (about 10 minutes), remove pieces of peel from the syrup with tongs one at a time. Let drain briefly, then roll peel gently in the sugar. Pick up peel pieces individually with another tongs, gently shake off excess sugar, then dry pieces on a rack for a few hours. The pieces will harden as they dry.

Store wrapped in waxed paper or in an airtight container.

Note: For an even more special treat, melt 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons shortening, then dip the dried and sugared peel in the chocolate. Let dry and store as note above.

Adapted from “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman (Macmillan)

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes recipe citrus gardening Sacramento recipe backyard produce produce management farm to fork treats winter

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Local News

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!