Candied Citrus Peel - The Topic

[John DePaula]

After you’ve been candying citrus peels a while, you end up with lots of left over syrup, which is quite delicious on its own.

Do you reuse the syrup the next time you make more candied citrus peels?

If not, can you make caramels with it?

So that it doesn’t go to waste, what else can you make with it?

[Kerry Beal]

I use it when I glaze a bundt cake, mixed with some nice dark rum.

[Darienne]

I've used some of the syrups a second time for candying another peel. I think the orange went for lemons. I did not keep the kumquat syrup at all. Too full of specific and pungent taste.

I have also made little hard candies, like those Reisen tidbits.

One time I started to make actual lollipops using the apricot syrup, but it would not harden sufficiently even at the top temperature. I think it had too much of something in it to harden. (Never got an answer to that question.)

I'll try the lollipops again with the Meyer lemon syrup.

[KarenDW]

Cocktails, lots of cocktails, or freeze it to use for punch in the summer (I cater).

Also, to season vinagrettes.

I've never tried using the syrup to candy more peels... maybe for poaching?

[andiesenji]

I have used the citrus syrup to candy ginger and also to candy peppers - I belong to Chile-Heads and for one of our hot-lucks I made "red-hots" candying dried chile tepins in the syrup I had saved from candying oranges. The true "tin throat, chile-heads" loved them.

I have candied figs in citrus syrup and also in ginger syrup. Try various things, see how you like them.

I have used the ginger syrup (diluted with a little sauterne) to poach pears.

[amccomb]

I second cocktails, and I've used it to soak cakes with good results.

[Lora]

I always mean to use it to glaze a fruit tart or a cake, or sub it for honey in a recipe, but before I know it I've made a batch of waffles and whipped some cream and it's all disappeared into my sticky, happy family. (Well, they're sticky and happy afterwards, anyway.)

[John DePaula]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, especially the idea to candy figs - that sounds delicious!

In looking through my recipe cache, I recently came across one for Fig Liqueur. Basically, it's got dried figs, sugar, vodka and a vanilla pod. I bet the orange syrup would make a find substitute for the sugar in the Fig Liqueur, eh?

And hey, I just bought a new spray gun for spraying chocolate so I bet I could load up the gun with syrup and spray some tarts - preferably a lot of them all at once.

[Darienne]

I always mean to use it to glaze a fruit tart or a cake, or sub it for honey in a recipe, but before I know it I've made a batch of waffles and whipped some cream and it's all disappeared into my sticky, happy family. (Well, they're sticky and happy afterwards, anyway.)

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do do do do...do do do do...(musical accompaniment)

We ARE having waffles for supper, for our once a week dessert supper. Now I'll add Meyer lemon syrup to the possible toppings.

Thanks.

[John DePaula]

By the way, I used some of the syrup for making a sorbet / granita last night. I added water to bring the sugar content down to about 31 BRIX and then I put it in the ice cream machine. Results were mixed. Personally, I didn't care for it - very "flat" and too sweet, but my SO liked it a lot. Next time (if there is one) I'd add some lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar even further to, oh I dunno, 27 BRIX...

[chocoera]

By the way, I used some of the syrup for making a sorbet / granita last night.  I added water to bring the sugar content down to about 31 BRIX and then I put it in the ice cream machine.  Results were mixed.  Personally, I didn't care for it - very "flat" and too sweet, but my SO liked it a lot.  Next time (if there is one) I'd add some lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar even further to, oh I dunno, 27 BRIX...

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all this syrup talk got me interested ...is it hard to candy orange peel? does anyone have a great recipe/technique? i think it would be hard to get slices of peel? and then what do you do with the leftover oranges?

[John DePaula]

By the way, I used some of the syrup for making a sorbet / granita last night.  I added water to bring the sugar content down to about 31 BRIX and then I put it in the ice cream machine.  Results were mixed.  Personally, I didn't care for it - very "flat" and too sweet, but my SO liked it a lot.  Next time (if there is one) I'd add some lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar even further to, oh I dunno, 27 BRIX...

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all this syrup talk got me interested ...is it hard to candy orange peel? does anyone have a great recipe/technique? i think it would be hard to get slices of peel? and then what do you do with the leftover oranges?

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Take a look at the following:

Candied Citrus Peel - The Topic

candied kumquats

[Darienne]

By the way, I used some of the syrup for making a sorbet / granita last night.  I added water to bring the sugar content down to about 31 BRIX and then I put it in the ice cream machine.  Results were mixed.  Personally, I didn't care for it - very "flat" and too sweet, but my SO liked it a lot.  Next time (if there is one) I'd add some lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar even further to, oh I dunno, 27 BRIX...

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all this syrup talk got me interested ...is it hard to candy orange peel? does anyone have a great recipe/technique? i think it would be hard to get slices of peel? and then what do you do with the leftover oranges?

←

Take a look at the following:

Candied Citrus Peel - The Topic

candied kumquats

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Andiesenji is the Ginger Lady and the best at candying everything. She has a recipe on Recipe Gullet which I have used.

[andiesenji]

all this syrup talk got me interested ...is it hard to candy orange peel?  does anyone have a great recipe/technique?  i think it would be hard to get slices of peel? and then what do you do with the leftover oranges?

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You can see photos of my method for removing the entire peel from oranges, also works with grapefruit and larger lemons, on the Artisinal Christmas Prezzies post # 163

Do not try to candy lime peel - it turns an ugly gray.

As I note in the instructional post, you can separate the orange segments, spread them on a tray and freeze them - after they are frozen, store them in a plastic bag or other freezer container and use as many or as few as you want - they will keep nicely for three months.

Also in the Candied Citrus peel topic is my method for doing small batches of Candied peel in microwave which speeds things up considerably and you can decide if you like the end product before taking on a larger and more time-consuming project.

As a side note, candied grapefruit peel is an excellent substitute for citron in fruit breads, stollen, etc.

Edited February 17, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[KristenLea]

hi everyone! first post, woohoo!

anyway, I just recently made candied orange peels, and used the extra syrup in my tea. I like it better than sugar now!

[Darienne]

hi everyone! first post, woohoo!

anyway, I just recently made candied orange peels, and used the extra syrup in my tea. I like it better than sugar now!

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Congratulations, KristenLea, and welcome to the wonderful world of candying everything you can lay your hands on .

[Tom Gengo]

You can see photos of my method for removing the entire peel from oranges, also works with grapefruit and larger lemons, on the Artisinal Christmas Prezzies post # 163

I really wish that I had seen your technique for fabricating the orange peels. I am in Charleston, SC and found a grapefruit tree with over 400 grapefruits on it. OMG... the owner allowed me to "take as many as you want, but do not take them all..." Sidebar, what would I possibly do w/ 400 citrus????? I took a modest 60 and shared 15 w/ friends.

Well, I decided to make candied peel and what a fiasco. Started with a knife trying to cut off, then used different sized microplane graters, back to the knife. Then I "filleted" the zest off the pith and candied the zest by following a recipe.

Seeing your technique was an epiphany... I should have included the pith.

By the way, the zest did come out fantastic... friends are eating it like candy and it is great in hot tea.

[Darienne]

(To complete the last post from mid-January. By the time we got to Albuquerque it was too late to get a Buddha's hand. I bought both Meyer lemons and kumquats and successfully candied both. I used the Meyer lemon syrup to candy the kumquats with some extra sugar syrup and on ice cream. The Meyer peels were dipped in chocolate. [if it stands still, candy it and dip it in dark chocolate.] The kumquats went into batches of kumquat ice cream and the syrup went everywhere I could put it. Yummm .)

Now about ginger syrup:

I have used lemon and orange syrup from previous candying events to candy additional lemons, oranges, kumquats, etc with good results.

This time I used pre-made ginger syrup to candy lemon peel. The result was not good. After one episode in the ginger syrup, it was evident that the taste of the ginger with the lemon peels was not a go. I drained off the ginger syrup and added new fresh sugar syrup.

One more cooking with pure sugar syrup and the peels taste better...not perfect...but better , and when dipped in chocolate they will certainly be acceptable.

Just another learning experience for me I guess. Has anyone had a good experience using ginger syrup to candy something else?

Thanks.

[OliverB]

I don't have time to read this entire thread, but I use candied orange peel to make Lebkuchen (what's wrongly called gingerbread at times - there's no ginger in there) at x-mas time. This year I could not find any so I made my own - the store stuff is pretty icky anyways. I boiled them up twice and strained then made the syrup and put them in, drained them well and poured more sugar on to make sure they don't all turn into one sticky ball. I cut them very small too since they go in the dough. Turned out so good! I also added a bit of lime and mandarin zest since I had those around. I must say the mandarin zest turned into a taste explosion! Unbelievable aroma, you bite into one and get this "wow" effect. Really neat. Of course I might have just been lucky with very fragrant mandarins but I figured I'd mention it here. I will never buy this stuff in the store again and I will always add a bit of mandarin and lime to my Lebkuchen :-)

I had plenty left over too, which works great sprinkled over ice cream or other such things - or just eaten as is.

[Darienne]

I don't have time to read this entire thread, but I use candied orange peel to make Lebkuchen (what's wrongly called gingerbread at times - there's no ginger in there) at x-mas time. This year I could not find any so I made my own - the store stuff is pretty icky anyways. I boiled them up twice and strained then made the syrup and put them in, drained them well and poured more sugar on to make sure they don't all turn into one sticky ball. I cut them very small too since they go in the dough. Turned out so good! I also added a bit of lime and mandarin zest since I had those around. I must say the mandarin zest turned into a taste explosion! Unbelievable aroma, you bite into one and get this "wow" effect. Really neat. Of course I might have just been lucky with very fragrant mandarins but I figured I'd mention it here. I will never buy this stuff in the store again and I will always add a bit of mandarin and lime to my Lebkuchen :-)

I had plenty left over too, which works great sprinkled over ice cream or other such things - or just eaten as is.

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I've candied Mandarins but never tried to get zest from them. Will try that for sure.

Thanks.

[pastrygirl]

I had a random thought yesterday that I wanted to throw on the table for feedback: do you think a pressure cooker would have any applications for candying? I've never actually used one and am kind of scared of them, but I was thinking it might be an easy way to soften citrus peel or ginger. If you put your blanched peels and syrup in the pressure cooker, would it all caramelize from too high heat? Would the sugar stick the steam valve together and make it explode? I'm wanting to make a lot of candied ginger via a slightly faster method than Andie's (I am impatient, it is true). Is this a really bad idea and opposite to everything we know about candying, or do you think it might be worth a try?

[Darienne]

I had a random thought yesterday that I wanted to throw on the table for feedback:  do you think a pressure cooker would have any applications for candying?  I've never actually used one and am kind of scared of them, but I was thinking it might be an easy way to soften citrus peel or ginger.  If you put your blanched peels and syrup in the pressure cooker, would it all caramelize from too high heat?  Would the sugar stick the steam valve together and make it explode?  I'm wanting to make a lot of candied ginger via a slightly faster method than Andie's (I am impatient, it is true).  Is this a really bad idea and opposite to everything we know about candying, or do you think it might be worth a try?

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I share your feelings about pressure cookers.

About the time element: it seems to me that the greatest amount of time is spent in the preparation of the ginger, and then later the laying out on the grate and the sugaring and/or dipping. To do a lot of ginger means a lot of prep.

To serve you better, why not use a mammoth slow cooker to cook all the pieces at once. Mostly you are just turning on and turning off the cooker until the pieces are done sufficiently. Sorry, I just can't envision the pressure cooker thing...but best of luck...and be careful! All that boiling hot sugar

[andiesenji]

Do not attempt candying in a pressure cooker! The syrup will bubble up like foam and seal the pressure release, followed shortly by an explosion.

I candy big batches of ginger in an ancient electric roaster. You can find them on ebay at reasonable prices or you can buy a new one for not a huge amount of money. They have a much better temperature control than a crock pot and you can actually use fry baskets in them (because they are rectangular) which makes it much easier to lift out the candied material.

click here and scroll down to the 18 qt roasters.

$39.00, 49.00 and further down one for 99.00.

I have a 23 qt Westinghouse that is 40 years old and still works just fine.

Edited March 20, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[pastrygirl]

Do not attempt candying in a pressure cooker!  The syrup will bubble up like foam and seal the pressure release, followed shortly by an explosion. 

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Yeah, that would be bad, I suspected there might be a good reason not to try it. I tried your steaming trick for some old tough ginger, it probably could have used more than the hour I gave it. Wouldn't mind speeding that step up. I know, I know, good food takes time, take the time to do it right.

I wonder if there is a way to fix a rice cooker so it stays on. Rice cookers are the one easy to find electrical appliance here. Rice three times a day, yes, pot roast, no. I could do it stove top at one or two lodges but burners are at a premium at the other three. Or maybe overnight in a well-wrapped hotel pan in a low oven - works for duck confit, how about pastry confitures?

Thanks for saving me an airlift to the closest burn ward!

[Darienne]

Do not attempt candying in a pressure cooker!  The syrup will bubble up like foam and seal the pressure release, followed shortly by an explosion. 

I candy big batches of ginger in an ancient electric roaster.  You can find them on ebay at reasonable prices or you can buy a new one for not a huge amount of money.  They have a much better temperature control than a crock pot and you can actually use fry baskets in them (because they are rectangular) which makes it much easier to lift out the candied material.

click here and scroll down to the 18 qt  roasters.

$39.00, 49.00 and further down one for 99.00.

I have a 23 qt Westinghouse that is 40 years old and still works just fine.

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Thanks for that information, Andie. I had actually never heard of an electric roaster before. (Shows my former level of food involvement. ) I might look for one when we are back home in May.