Sunday, March 9, 2014

Candied Orange Peel

A good friend of mine surprised me one day with some home made candied orange peels.  They were so addictive,my family and me ended up finishing the whole bag in one sitting. I had no choice but to get the recipe from her as we were craving for more. She being a sweet heart gave me the recipe and here is the out come.
Ingredients
3 cups of loosely packed peels of one of these('Meyer'lemons,clementine,'Minneola'tangelos,pomelos,honey tangerines)
4  cups sugar, plus extra for rolling
4 cups water
Cream of tartar-1tsp
Candy thermometer
Wire rack
Method:
Its important to use organic fruit when making candied peels as most pesticide residue is found in the skin.
If the skin is waxed ,scrub of the wax using a scrubber or a tooth brush.
Cut tops and bottoms off of the orange and score the orange into quarters, cutting down only into the peel and not into the fruit. Peel the skin and pith of the orange in large pieces, you can do this using a spoon or knife , if it is a sweeter fruit more pith can remain use the orange for another recipe. Cut the peel into strips about 1/4-inch wide or into shapes like diamond or triangles. Put the orange peel in a large saucepan with cold water to cover, there should be enough space for them to move, bring to a boil over high heat. Then pour off the water. Repeat 1 or 2 more times depending how tart the peels are.By the end of this peels should be tender and almost translucent. Remove the orange peels from the pan and drop them into ice cold water to stop cooking and this also help the peels to keep their shape. Now drain and set aside.
Now add the peels to a sauce pan and pour water just enough to cover the peels.Keep track of how much water you used.Drain the peels and this time reserve the water.Return the water to the pan and add as much sugar as water( for 4 cups water you would use 4 cups sugar) Add 1 teaspoon cream of tartar to prevent cystallization to the sugar water stir and  bring water to a boil.Add drained peel and stir them in.Boil for 5 minutes and reduce the heat to the lowest and simmer for 50 to 55 minutes when the temperature reaches 230 F the syrup should be just right. Drain the peels, (save the syrup for ice tea.)
Place the peels atop a wire rack and let it drip dry for 30 minutes.Turn the peels once or twice. Add about 1 cup of sugar to a ziplock bag and add peels and toss to coat .Now place the peels on dry wire racks to dry for a day or two depending on the humidity level. Or you can speed up the process by placing them in an oven heated to 200 F and is TURNED OFF.Return the peels to bag of sugar and give another good shake.Place them in airtight container and never in fridge as it turns chewy,however you can freeze them in airtight container and defrost at room temperature.



4 comments:

  1. Never tried making candied peels at home..should try sometime...looks yummy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Peels look so colorful and tempting. Must have tasted graet as well.
    Deepa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks delicious ....... Will try this !! Happy to follow you dear will be happy if you follow me back!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Even i tried my hands in making this candied orange peel.. Well done and they looks just fantabulous..

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...