CANDYING FRUITS

By stepjo7269

Ingredients

• NONE

Preparation

Step 1

Candying Fruits
Delicious in cakes, cookies, for garnishes, or dipped in chocolate, candied fruit is worth the effort.
Candying fruit is the relatively simple process of infusing fruits or citrus peels in a sugar syrup. Grapefruit peel, kumquats, orange and lemon rind, fresh cherries, and pineapple are all good choices for candying. But you don't have to stop with fruit: slivers of candied carrot make a wonderful garnish for carrot cakes.
1. You will need a saucepan for Simple Syrup and one for blanching the fruit. We chose to candy orange peel, which we later chopped and added to a recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Orange Biscotti.
Remove the top and bottom from the orange.
2. Set the flat end of the orange on a cutting board. Using a sharp paring knife, slice off the peel, following the curve of the orange as best you can. Avoid cutting into the flesh of the fruit. It is okay to keep the bitter white pith attached to the rind: the bitterness is tamed by blanching, and the pith becomes translucent and sweet during the candying process.
3. You can either candy the peel as is, for chopping and adding to a recipe, or you can slice it into even strips, about ¼-inch wide, for a more elegant presentation. (Chocolate-dipped candied orange peel is a treat, and is excellent for gift-giving.) Large peels, such as grapefruit, should be cut into smaller strips for faster, more even cooking.
4. Put the peel into a pot of cool, fresh water. Bring it to a rolling boil. Immediately transfer the fruit to a colander to drain. Repeat, bringing the peel and fresh water to a full boil. For oranges or other sweet-skinned citrus, such as Meyer lemons, you might only need one to three blanchings. For grapefruit, you might need seven or eight. (Cherries and pineapple chunks can go straight to the pot of simple syrup.) Taste the blanched peel: is it tender? Transfer the drained peel to the pot of warm simple syrup. Bring the syrup to a very low simmer.
5. Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, depending upon the size of your slices, until the orange rinds become translucent and the peel tastes sweet and tender.
6. Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool. The orange rind can be chopped and used in recipes, stored in the refrigerator for weeks in its sugar syrup, or drained and rolled in sugar. Sugared orange rinds will dry out quickly, however, so eat them within a day or two. To keep them fresher longer, dip the drained slices of peel in tempered chocolate.
Any extra syrup for can be used in other dishes or drinks. Orange-flavored simple syrup is delicious in tea. Use your homemade candied citrus peel in these recipes:

Making Simple Syrup
This basic preparation is used for flavoring cold drinks, candying fruits, and moistening sponge cakes.
Simple syrup (sugar syrup) can be made in different viscosities for a variety of uses. Cooled thin syrup (1 part sugar to 2 parts water) is used for brushing on cake layers, especially sponge cakes, to add moisture and a bit of extra sweetness. Medium-thick syrup (1:1) is great for mixed drinks, sweetening iced teas and coffees, and for candying fruits, while thick simple syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water) is also known as “sorbet syrup” and is used as a base for many flavors of sorbet. This "super-saturated" sugar syrup is also used for making old-fashioned rock candy.
1. We chose to illustrate how to make a one-to-one simple syrup, which we later used for candying orange rinds for use in a biscotti recipe. We used one cup of water and one cup of sugar to make a medium-thick simple syrup.
2. Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup. Depending upon the usage, you may choose to flavor the syrup. Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly. Stir in 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for a basic vanilla syrup. Infuse with herbs or spices, if desired; liqueurs and alcohols such as brandy and rum are often used for moistening cakes. Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator. Simple syrup can be stored for up to one month.