When going through many recipes for Christmas, I came across candied orange peel and candied lemon peel in every recipe. As we don't get it here in Madurai, I thought of preparing it at home. I went through many blogs and all the recipes were similar with slight variations. So my preparation is a combination of the recipes I read. The process is quite simple and the time consumed is only for drying the peels. I started with 4 oranges which gave me a box full of peels. When chopped they came to 1 cup. I used my induction stove and set the timer so that I don't forget the peels. It was interesting to prepare and I enjoyed it. I also used it in my bakes. As this is the first time I am using candied peel in my bakes, I was not sure of the taste it would give. It was full of orange flavour and had a crunch to it while biting through. I think I will do this often.
Ingredients:
Orange-4 nos
Sugar-1 1/2 cups
Water-3 cups
Granulated Sugar-1/4-1/2 cup for coating
Procedure:
1. First cut off both the sides of the orange to make it easy to peel.
2. Then with a serrated knife carefully cut the skin along the length with out cutting the fruit.
3. Make 5 cuts for an orange.
4. Carefully remove the peel from the fruit. You will end up with 5 segments in each orange.
5. In a pan add water and the peel and let it boil for 10 minutes. This is to soften the peel and remove the bitterness. Some blogs suggested boiling three times. But I did it only once.
6. Now drain water and remove the peels. Allow them to cool down.
7. Slice each segment into two for easy handling.
8. With a sharp knife, remove the white coloured pith from the peel.
9. In a pan add sugar and water and bring it to boil.
10. Add the peels and reduce flame to medium low.
11. Cover and cook the peels for 30-45 minutes or until the peels look shiny and glossy.
12. Remove the peels and place them on a wire rack.
13. Allow it to dry for 6-8 hours. They will be very sticky. So you need to dry it. The blogs I read suggested drying the peels for 24 hours. But as Madurai climate is hot, the process of drying took very little time. The peels need to be little sticky so that the coating sticks to it.
14. Take granulated sugar in a bowl, roll each peel in the sugar so that it coats the peel.
15. Dry it again over night to completely dry.
16. Store in air tight box and use as needed. This measure ment gives approximately 1 cup of chopped candied peel.
Cut off both the sides of the orange.
With a serrated knife, cut along the length of the fruit.
Peel away the peel carefully.
For four oranges I got 20 segments.
Boil the segments for 10 minutes in water.
Remove from water and allow it to cool. Cut each segment into two.
Remove the white pith using a sharp knife.
Prepare all the peels.
Boil in sugar syrup for 30-45 minutes.
Cook until the peel looks glossy. The syrup can be reserved and used as a topping for ice cream or pastries. I also made orange juice and instead of sugar I used this syrup. It was so nice.
Remove from sugar syrup and place on wire rack to dry.
When less sticky roll in granulated sugar.
Again dry them on wire rack until completely dry.
Use in a recipe or have a bite.
Labels: HOW TO, ORANGE, ORANGE PEEL
