Recipes

Candied Citrus Peel

An old-fashioned favorite, full of flavor!

INGREDIENTS:
2 large oranges
3 medium lemons
1 large grapefruit
4 large tangerines
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
1-3/4 cups boiling water
1 cup sugar (for rolling)

DIRECTIONS:
Wash the fruit. Cut into quarters. Remove pulp. Cut peels into uniform strips (scissors do a fine job), keeping the tangerine peel separate. Place cut peel (all but the tangerine) into large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Drain.

Repeat boiling process with fresh cold water and boil for another 10 minutes. Drain. Add tangerine peel at this time and repeat boiling process.

In a large saucepan combine sugar, honey and boiling water. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil one minute. Add cooked peel and simmer until almost all the syrup is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Peel should be semi-transparent. Drain off syrup and store it in a refrigerator in covered container.

Place peel in colander and drain about 10 minutes. Sprinkle granulated sugar on cutting board and coat the drained peel by rolling in sugar. Spread coated candied peel out on wax paper to dry. Store in a tightly covered container.

The reserved syrup can be used to candy pineapple chunks for homemade fruitcake. Place one can of drained pineapple chunks in syrup and simmer until pineapple is almost transparent. Add a few drops of food color, if desired, and let pineapple absorb color. Drain thoroughly and coat with sugar.

Adapted from the recipe with the same name, Citrus Lovers Cookbook, American Traveler Press, printed here with permission of the publisher.