This candied citrus peel is a delicious garnish for cakes and pastries, capturing the fragrant essential oils in the peel in a sour candied treat.
The candied citrus peel (I used pomelo) is coated with a mix of sugar and citric acid, a bit like delicious sour jelly sweets. I get my citric acid from the spice section of my local international food store. Great for cocktails too ?
Eat the candied citrus peel as healthy-ish sweets or use to top cakes and pastries. I also like it in sweet/sour dishes like this Citrus salad with fennel and pomegranate (pictured).
Juicy, fragrant citrus peel in a sweet/sour crystal coating.
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Sour candied citrus peel
This candied citrus peel is a delicious garnish for cakes and pastries, capturing the fragrant essential oils in the peel in a sour candied treat.
Ingredients
sour candied citrus peel
- 1/2 pomelo, 1 grapefruit, 1 orange, 2 lemons or 2 limes
- 200g + 3 heaped tbsp golden caster sugar
- 3 heaped tsp citric acid
Instructions
for the citrus peel
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Wash the fruit and dry well. Using a vegetable peeler, cut lengths of peel from the fruit, avoiding as much of the bitter white pith as possible. Scrape off any pith still on the peel with a small spoon. Cut each piece of peel into 2-3mm strips.
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Put 200g sugar in a medium saucepan and add 200ml water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes, until lightly thickened. Add the strips of peel, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the peel turns translucent.
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Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peel pieces to a sieve and drain well. Put the remaining 3 heaped tbsp sugar and the citric acid into a plastic ziplock bag and shake to combine. Add the drained peel and shake to evenly combine.
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Transfer the coated peel to a piece of baking paper, arrange in an even layer and leave to dry (a few hours).