Candied Citrus Peel

I wasn’t inspired to make a bake that needed candied peel until late in the season. By that time the groceries were picked over. I thought I should make my own. To be honest, procrastination won. But days later my cousin Kate, who is a wiz in the kitchen posted she and her kid were making their own! Of course I asked for the recipe and she shared the site. Now in January, there is ton of citrus, I’m going to make all kinds of peel.

This comes directly from The Daring Gourmet. They will drill way down but for my purposes this is what is needed to know.

Candied Orange Peel

2 oranges

1 cup sugar divided

Water

Cut the peed from the orange leaving some pith against the zest, but avoiding the flesh of the orange. The pith is bitter but changing the boiling water removes some of it. If you go all zest your end product will be crunchy not chewy. It’s a balance, you need some white pith. Cut into ¼ inch strips.

In a small pot boil the peel for 15 minutes. Discard the water and cover again with fresh water. Boil for an additional 15 minutes. Drain and rinse the peel. In the same pot, to the peel add 2 cups fresh cold water and ¾ cup sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. The liquid will turn syrupy. Don’t let the sugar brown, though the syrup will take on an orange hue. Off the heat. Tip the remaining granulated sugar into a bowl which is large enough to toss the strips of peel in the sugar.

Using forks or chopsticks pull the peel out of the syrup and toss in the sugar. Pull the peel from the sugar and place on a rack to dry. Once completely cool and dry put into a sealable bag and freeze until needed.