Candied Citrus Peel - The Topic

[eatrustic]

You only need to blanch three times? Even if the peel is the thick kind?

[tsquare]

I made these last month - one blanch was fine - about 10 minutes? It was the recipe in "The Village Baker's Wife". The syrup was 1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and some corn syrup (!). But I like the results.

[andiesenji]

Try making it in the microwave.

I have been doing this for some time and find that the flavor is more intense.

Try it with just a small amount, one orange will do.

cut the peel as usual, put it in at least a 1 quart pyrex bowl or measure - fill with water to the quart measure.

put in microwave and depending on the strength of your oven set it for 8 to 10 minutes, enough to get it boiling.

let it set for 5 minutes then pour off the water and refill, and repeat the process.

If the rind is quite thick, do it a third time and drain.

mix your syrup 1 to 1, sugar to water and pour over the peel.

Set the timer for 5 minutes (8 for low-power ovens)

allow it to rest for 10 minutes

set it again for 5 minutes

rest for 10

another 5 minutes

now allow it to cool completely -

microwave for 8 to 10 minutes.

The entire piece, including the white part should be translucent and show orange color.

Remove from syrup and place on a rack to drain.

Save the syrup to make more peel or use it to make zest syrup, cooking grated zest in the syrup and storing in the refrigerator for flavoring ices, ice cream, in salad dressing or marinades, etc.

[eatrustic]

That is quite the technique andiesenji .

The first problem is : I don't have a microwave although I could obviously get access to one (and will try it)... and the batch size is a bit small.

I usually make batches of 18 oranges at a time and leave the peel in the syrup until needed . I then drain and chop.

That aside do I need to use so much sugar if the peel is going to be removed from the syrup and cut up for baking?

When blanching the peel, what am I looking for in "doneness" before proceeding to the syrup stage? It sounds like my 7 blanches are overkill.

Something I just thought of (and will try): What about using some of the orange juice to make the syrup or will this give a "cooked" flavor?

Thanks!

[phaelon56]

Andi - are you suggesting this

Try it with just a small amount, one orange will do.

just for the sake of trying the technique without first committing to a large number of orange peels or can this be done with a much larger number of peels?

[andiesenji]

First, I don't use orange juice in the syrup because I think it makes a less translucent product and it doesn't get dry enough for coating with granulated sugar for eating out of hand. if you are just using it in cooking, it might be fine, but I have no experience with it.

I aim for an appearance of something that looks like stained glass.

When I make it, I make it in larger batches, using a Pyrex "visions" Dutch oven, the biggest one. However I have a very large microwave, a 2 cf one.

I suggested you make a small batch so you can see if you like the texture of the resulting product, prior to making a larger batch.

For the blanching, I simply taste the peel to see if the white part is no longer bitter, is soft and beginning to look slightly translucent instead of completely opaque.

In the larger batches I cook it for longer as more liquid volume takes longer to come to a boil.

15-18 minutes for each blanching and 15 minutes for each session in the syrup.

I buy large navel oranges, with quite thick skin, if I can find them.

I prepare them as a production line.

First I top and tail all of them them, cutting off the top and bottom about 1/2 to 3/4 inch from each end, then use a soup spoon with a rouded tip and push down between the flesh and the rind all the way around, both top and bottom until the rind is completely free of the flesh - then I make one vertical cut and open the rind up into a long flat strip which is then easy to cut crosswise into uniform strips.

I have found that using this method I can prepare more peel than any other method I have tried over the 40+ years I have been doing this.

regarding the syrup, you can use whatever ratio works for you. The traditional candying method is to use 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. I have found that 1 to 1 works just as well.

However, lesser concentrations of sugar does not completely candy the fruit and does not preserve it as well. If you are not going for complete preservation where it can be stored at room temperature, you will probably be okay with a lower ratio of sugar to water but if you are going to hold it for awhile you should probably use more sugar.

When I make candied whole fruits I start with a thinner syrup and work through a series of stronger concentrations of sugar because I have learned that I end up with better preservation. The point is to replace much of the liquid in the cells with sugar and that requires a certain concentration in the liquid.

[M. Lucia]

I usually blanch my peel 3-4 times. It's ok if there is a little bit of bitterness left, it will be masked by the sugar.

Also, I add a touch of orange flower water to my syrup, I think it gives it a more complex flavor.

Thanks for the tip about how to peel the oranges, andie, I always have these little pieces that break off, so I will try that method next time.

[chiantiglace]

you've been using a microwave since 1965, and your what 60 yrs old on a culinary forum. I applaud your persistence in the modern world.

just blanch the orange peel until them seem to become a slight bit translucent. You will tend to notice a slight orange aroma surrounding you as well. The peels might even curl up about 20%.

[taylor214]

Hi Everyone!

I'm making some Chocolate Grand Marnier Truffles this week and would like to put a small sliver of candied orange peel on the top of each truffle. I'm looking for a good candied orange peel recipe.

I tried using the search feature on the site, but I must not be using it correctly or with enough specifics because when typing in Candied Orange, I hit a ton of threads, but nothing seemed that applicable. So, if this topic has been discussed, please point me in that direction or if someone can give me some tips on searching on the site, I will gladly look for the topic if it has been discussed.

Thanks in advance!

[SuzySushi]

Here's one recipe link. I Googled "candied orange peel" recipes.

[onehsancare]

I was frustrated by searching, too, but I think I've figured out how to get what I want:

I start with the "Search" botton at the very top of the eGullet screen. That gets you to the search function with more options. One of the options is "Show results as posts." Toggle that, and you'll get just the posts in which your search terms actually appear, not the entire thread which may contain only one post you want.

[andiesenji]

I didn't see this thread when it was first posted.

I will PM you later today, after I get home from work, and tell you about my method of making candied orange peel in the microwave, it is quick and easy and great for making a small batch for a particular recipe.

[taylor214]

great! thank you!

[andiesenji]

I have posted my method/recipe for microwave candied citrus peel in RecipeGullet, just in case anyone wants a quick and easy way to make just a little.

[LoveToEatATL]

I tried to make these the other day and they just didn't turn out.

Maybe I cooked the sugar too long, but when it came time to roll them in sugar they looked fine but after drying they were wet and limp, as if they had soaked up all the sugar.

It was also a terribly humid day. Could that have contributed to the sugar not staying dry?

Does anyone have a great recipe for these?

Thanks!

[chiantiglace]

your not cooking your sugar syrup enough.

bring peel's to a boil three to six times in replacing water to eliminate bitterness

dry the peels and bring simple syrup to a boil. Right before candy stage, or when the bubbles start comming up slow, just before caramel stage toss in your peel.

turn off and and toss the peel around just slightly not to put air into the sugar.

use tongs to pull the peel our and lay on a mat/pan covered with sugar.

Let rest for a few moments and then roll/toss in the sugar.

set aside to cool

[LoveToEatATL]

your not cooking your sugar syrup enough. 

bring peel's to a boil three to six times in replacing water to eliminate bitterness

dry the peels and bring simple syrup to a boil.  Right before candy stage, or when the bubbles start comming up slow, just before caramel stage toss in your peel.

turn off and and toss the peel around just slightly not to put air into the sugar.

use tongs to pull the peel our and lay on a mat/pan covered with sugar.

Let rest for a few moments and then roll/toss in the sugar.

set aside to cool

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Terrific. Thanks!

Have you tried this with whole slices before? I saw Emeril do it the other night on his show.

[Sethro]

Well there's a bunch of different ways to do it.

I actually like to cany whole slices, and then cut away the rind/peel leaving only the star-shaped translucent flesh. When I do that I usually throw the slices in much earlier (as soon as the syrup boils) because I want there to be time for the flesh to really confeit. Of course, I then end up throwing the peels away, so I guess this is kinda irrelevant where your question is concerned.

[jmolinari]

Lovetoeat, where in Atlanta did you find the orange for this? I thought it was supposed to be untreated to be safe/good.

jason

[Truffle Guy]

I tried to make these the other day and they just didn't turn out.

Maybe I cooked the sugar too long, but when it came time to roll them in sugar they looked fine but after drying they were wet and limp, as if they had soaked up all the sugar.

It was also a terribly humid day.  Could that have contributed to the sugar not staying dry?

Does anyone have a great recipe for these?

Thanks!

←

Hey there LoveToEatATL,

Not sure what recipe you are using, I've tried many different ones and the best results I have gotten are in boiling the orange slices in water 3-4 times, using cold water each time and then simmering in a sugar/Grand Marnier or Cointreau syrup for about an hour then coating in sugar. I don't have the recipe here but can send if you are interested. I've also found if you boil them too long, they can begin to fall apart and get mushy so it takes a good balance. The oranges you use will also impact how successful you are, if they are too thin skinned, they will not turn out as well. My best results were using "mutant" California Oranges (they were very large and thick skinned) even though I live in Florida. Let me know if you want the recipe or I can post later.

[Wendy DeBord]

Truffle Guy, we never turn down the offer for a good recipe here. Would you please post in thread so all can see?

Thanks

[LoveToEatATL]

Lovetoeat, where in Atlanta did you find the orange for this? I thought it was supposed to be untreated to be safe/good.

jason

←

Yikes, Jason! I just picked up some at Publix that looked really good.

Just as well it didn't turn out! LOL.

[cherimoya]

Hi. I have never candied peel before, but I would like to try my hand at candied orange peel, to use in the florentine recipe from Herme's Chocolate book. In his recipe for candied peel, he instructs "cut off wide bands of peel ... making certain that as you cut, you include a sliver of fruit as well". In Dessert Circus, Torres says to remove the fruit and treat the pith as a whole. I am not a big consumer of candied peel so I guess I always assumed that you would remove the pith. If you do keep the pith and a sliver of fruit attached to the peel, are you supposed to remove it before any end use? Thanks in advance for your input.

[Sethro]

The pith is perfectly edible. The point of the blanching is to remove it's bitterness.

[cherimoya]

Thanks Seth. What about keeping some of the flesh of the fruit attached? Would you recommend this? Is there a danger that it won't candy properly because of a higher water content?