Hey everyone, I’m Sophie! Josh has asked me to help him out by taking care of the cooking end of things here at AskGarden, since he’s not much for recipes. I’m glad to help, so here I am with my first step-by-step how-to about making Candied Orange Peels!
Somehow during the last three years [and 5 moves] I lost my old candied peel recipe. I got another one from cooks.com and gave it a shot, but it was a bit disappointing. I’ve never made candied orange peels with this recipe before, so my first batch was what I would call a “learning experience.” And by learning experience I mean I’m just glad I didn’t blow anything up and they’re edible. Luckily I made a batch of candied grapefruit peels next, so I used my experience to improve the recipe and to make it more like the one I used to use. Turned out much better. [*nom nom* Yum!] In retrospect, I probably should have fiddled with the recipe right away, but hindsight really is 20/20. I included the original recipe [for reference] and the new and improved version I’m using now.
ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS:
Remove peel in quarters using a sharp knife. Place peel in a saucepan, cover with water and cook until tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup liquor. When cool, use a spoon to remove the white pulp from the peel.
Place reserved liquor and 1 cup sugar in saucepan and cook and stir until temperature reads 235 degrees on a candy thermometer or until mixture tests for soft ball candy stage.
Add peel and cook 10 minutes longer. Liquor will be boiled down and almost gone. Drain, roll in remaining cup of sugar. Cool and drop on paper towels. Store in airtight container.
I was a bit skeptical about this recipe, considering that orange peels are notoriously bitter [especially the pith] and reserving the liquor from boiling the peels would be pretty bitter. And I was right. My first batch had a bit of a bitter and slightly sour taste to them. [the second batch didn't] I used regular water [with a couple drops of orange extract for a flavor boost. Since this was grapefruit I kept it mild but you could use up to a teaspoonful when making orange peels] instead of the reserved liquor and made a few other minor adjustments. This is the recipe I used the second time around:
MY RECIPE:
Peel from 4 lg. oranges [or same amount of grapefruit peel]
2 cups sugar [I used Sugar in the Raw for one cup and regular granulated sugar to coat. This gave it an added bit of flavor.]
Cold water
Remove peel in quarters using a sharp knife. [Save the fruit for juice, to nibble on while making your other holiday treats, or for a fruit salad like I did.] Place peel in saucepan, cover with water, and cook at a medium boil until very tender. Drain off the water and replace with fresh. Bring to a medium boil again and boil for an additional 20 minutes. Drain. When cool, use a spoon to remove the white pulp from the peel. Cut into desired size pieces [I choose long strips.] and use a paring knife to remove any remaining bits of white pulp or thick inner parts.
Place 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar [this is what I used sugar in the raw for] in fairly deep saucepan [will boil up a quite a ways] and boil while stirring until temperature reaches 235*F on a candy thermometer or mixture tests for soft ball candy stage. [More on this later in post.]
Add peel and cook 15 minutes longer., Sugar mixture will be boiled down and almost gone. Drain, roll in remaining cup of sugar [granulated]. Cool and drop on paper towels. Store in an airtight container.
MISC. ADVICE:
- When using a candy thermometer make sure its actually a CANDY thermometer, not a meat or other type of thermometer. Make sure its clipped firmly to the side of your straight-sided saucepan, suspended at the mid-level of your mixture.
- Keep a glass container filled 3/4 with cold water on hand to test candy stages. [Also make sure you can fit your hand into the container to reach the drips of candy at the bottom. >.< Witness me not thinking below!]
- Watch out for splatters from the candy mixture, it is VERY hot and can potentially cause severe burns.
Now for the pictures! All text is referring to the picture BELOW it.
LOL, my handwritten copy of the recipe isn’t very detailed. XD Good thing I was the one reading it.
These are the grapefruit peels freshly removed from the fruit. Note the pith is very white.
While you are cooking the peels, the inner pith will being to become less white and more semi-transparent. They have to cook more than in below pic, parts are still white and when tested with fork peels are not tender enough.
This is what the peels are supposed to look like [will be oranger since these are grapefruit peels], with the pith taking on a semi-transparent aspect. Slightly tinted from the rind. Water will be tinted as well. Peels tested with fork are very tender. [This can take a while!]
Drain water and cover again with fresh water. Boil for an additional 20 minutes. [This reduces bitterness.] Drain. Peels will be very tender and the pith will be semi-transparent and tinted by rind. [Possibly only mildly tinted, use tenderness to judge!]
Cool peels. Remove pith [pulp] with a spoon. CAREFULLY! Rinds are fragile! [Ignore the magically changing peels. These are now orange peels.] I already went over these scraping the pith off once, this is a second try to clean them up better.
Cut the rinds into pieces in the size and shape you desire. I chose long strips. Make sure your knife is sharp so you don’t tear the rinds!
Take a very sharp knife to remove the remaining pith. This is important if there is any remaining pith! Your peels will be very bitter if you don’t.
It’s almost like filleting a fish. It’s much easier to do this AFTER you cut the rinds into pieces, as they lay flat.
Cleaning all of your peels up can take a while [especially if you double the batch like I did. >.<] but its worth it in the end!
Mix water and 1 cup of sugar [give a good stir] in a heavy duty saucepan with moderately high sides.
Clip thermometer to side with bulb suspended at mid-level. Turn up heat to med-high.
Bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring frequently. Keep an eye on the thermometer as it heats.
[Pics are a series to show the changes as the mixture boils. Don't be alarmed, the mixture will rise up a quite a way.]
At the above point [230*-233*F] Test the mixture with a spoon. When a teaspoon is dipped into the hot mixture, then removed, the candy falls off the spoon in a 2 inch long, fine, thing thread. [Not the best picture, sorry. Should be a bit thicker than this.]
As mixture reaches 234*-240*F it will rise even further and the bubbles will be larger and stickier. [This is why you need a pan with high sides.]
Test the mixture at this point and see if it has reached the softball candy stage. Drip some of the mixture into a glass container filled 3/4 with cold water. When the candy is removed from the water, the ball instantly flattens and runs over your finger. [Also not the greatest pic, sorry.]
This is why you should make sure you can reach the bottom of your glass container. >.< I had to use a spoon to fish out my test drips. LOL, you would think that after doing this so many times I would remember this.
Add peels to candy mixture and boil for 15 minutes. The mixture will boil up a bit again, before boiling down. Stir nearly continuously. The rinds will become semi-transparent as they cook.
After 15 minutes the rinds will look about like this.
Once the rinds are cooked, drain them carefully. I recommend pouring the whole mix into a bowl, then straining back into the pan.
DON’T STRAIN DOWN YOUR KITCHEN DRAIN! THIS CAN GUM THINGS UP! I recommend diluting the mixture in the pan with some water. This will dissolve it enough to pour out.
Take drained rinds and drop into the remaining cup of sugar. I recommend using a baking sheet with sides for this. A plate will be quite cramped. [All of my baking sheets were in use at the time so I was stuck with the plate. Yes I'm insane, I was baking while I made these and trying to take pictures for this tutorial. *facepalm*]
Thoroughly coat the peels with sugar. Roll in sugar until a bit cooler, then drop onto paper towels to cool the rest of the way. Store in an airtight container.
I hope this tutorial helps anyone who wants to try these. Please share your experiences and any troubles you have, I’ll do my best to help!
These look really cute packaged for gifts around the holidays or for birthdays. Just put them in small jam jars with ribbons around the top, or in decorative tins. These make for a delicious, healthy alternative to most candies for kids and adults alike. And if you’re especially lucky and have your own citrus trees, this is just one more thing you can make with food from your garden. Enjoy!
