There are some things I never thought I’d have to make myself at home. Candied fruit, for example. I always thought you just buy that stuff at the supermarket, or at one of those little candy shops in the mall when you need something. Well, I’ll just admit it, I was very wrong…
Try getting candied fruit here in Berlin. I don’t mean the diced stuff you use for a Christmas Stollen. You can actually get some candied orange and lemon peel just about anywhere, probably even year-round. I’m talking about whole, candied orange or lemon slices that you can use for decorations. Mission Impossible!
At one point, I was almost ready to soak dried orange slices – the ones you find in knick-knack shops for decorative purposes – in sugar syrup and use that instead of real candied fruit. Of course, that wouldn’t have worked. Visually, it would probably have come pretty close to the real thing, but you wouldn’t want to give something like that to anyone to eat.
So what’s left? Bite the bullet and make everything yourself from scratch. There’s really no other way. Luckily, it’s not too complicated. You just need a little patience. Or rather, a whole lot of patience. Candied fruit is a multi-day project. First, you have to cook the fruit slices in sugar syrup, then let them steep for quite a while. Thereafter, of course, the fruit has to dry somehow. You don’t really want to use dripping fruit slices as a decoration…
Well. You can use oranges, lemons, or even limes for this job here. It’s important, though, that the fruits are organic or untreated. Since you’ll be eating the peel in the end, you shouldn’t use anything that was sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals during the cultivation process. Waxed fruits are not the problem, since you can easily wash that off with plenty of hot water.
Once the candied fruit is ready and dry, you can snack on it, use it for baking, or throw it on a cake or something else as a decoration. To take these candied fruits to the next level, you can also brush them with melted chocolate or partially dip them in semi-sweet chocolate. A very tasty combination!
If you’re wondering why you absolutely need whole candied orange slices… it’s for recipes like these here. Our Orange Tart with Caramelized Oranges would only be half as pretty without the candied oranges on top. You also need candied oranges for a Spanish Roscón de Reyes, aka. a Spanish Three Kings’ Cake, for example. Unfortunately, our German candied orange and lemon peel aren’t quite right for that one.
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
2 organic oranges or lemons
1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
1/2 cup (120ml) water
1 tbsp. orange liquor (optional)
2 Bio-Orangen oder Zitronen
300g Zucker
120ml Wasser
1 EL Orangenlikör (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Wash the oranges/lemons with some hot water and pat them dry. Cut them into (not too) thin slices and set them aside.
2. Add the sugar, water, and liqueur (optional) to a saucepan and heat up. Let the mixture simmer until you get a clear, thick syrup. Reduce the heat and add the orange/lemon slices. Let the slices simmer gently for about 1 hour. Check occasionally to make sure all the fruit is still covered with the syrup. If not, add 1–2 tbsp. of water and stir in.
3. Remove the pot from the heat, cover with a lid, and let the fruit steep for 12–24 hours. After that remove the fruit slices, drain them, and then place them with some space in between on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Let the fruit dry in a warm place for one day.
Note: If the fruit slices are still not dry after a day, you can dry them in the oven at a temperature of 60°C (140°F) for about 2 hours. Turn them once halfway through.
1. Die Orangen/Zitronen mit heißem Waser abwaschen und abtrocknen, dann in (nicht zu dünne) Scheiben schneiden und zur Seite legen.
2. Den Zucker mit dem Wasser und Likör (optional) in einen Topf geben und erhitzen. So lange köcheln lassen, bis ein klarer, dickflüssiger Sirup entsteht. Die Hitzezufuhr reduzieren und die Orangen-/Zitronenscheiben hineinlegen. Die Scheiben für etwa 1 Stunde leicht köcheln lassen. Gelegentlich nachschauen und sicherstellen, dass alle Früchte noch mit dem Sirup bedeckt sind. Sollte das nicht der Fall sein, noch 1-2 EL Wasser dazugeben und alles durchmischen.
3. Den Topf vom Herd nehmen, mit einem Deckel abdecken und die Früchte für 12-24 Stunden ziehen lassen. Die Früchtescheiben herausnehmen, abtropfen lassen und dann mit Abstand zueinander auf ein mit Backpapapier ausgelegtes Backblech legen. Die Früchte für einen Tag an einem warmen Ort trocknen lassen.
Hinweis: Sollten die Früchte nach dem Tag noch nicht trocken sei, kann man sie für etwa 2 Stunden bei 60°C (140°F) im Ofen trocknen. Nach der Hälfte der Zeit einmal wenden.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Homemade Candied Fruit (Oranges)
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 03:00
- Total Time: 28:00
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Homemade Stuff
- Method: -
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Candied fruit can be a delicious sweet snack or you can use it to decorate cakes and desserts. It’s never wrong to have some at home! So easy to make!
Ingredients
2 organic oranges or lemons
1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
1/2 cup (120ml) water
1 tbsp. orange liquor (optional)
Instructions
1. Wash the oranges/lemons with some hot water and pat them dry. Cut them into (not too) thin slices and set them aside.
2. Add the sugar, water, and liqueur (optional) to a saucepan and heat up. Let the mixture simmer until you get a clear, thick syrup. Reduce the heat and add the orange/lemon slices. Let the slices simmer gently for about 1 hour. Check occasionally to make sure all the fruit is still covered with the syrup. If not, add 1–2 tbsp. of water and stir in.
3. Remove the pot from the heat, cover with a lid, and let the fruit steep for 12–24 hours. After that remove the fruit slices, drain them, and then place them with some space in between on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Let the fruit dry in a warm place for one day.
Notes
If the fruit slices are still not dry after a day, you can dry them in the oven at a temperature of 60°C (140°F) for about 2 hours. Turn them once halfway through.
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Have you tried the same recipe but with other (non citrus) fruits like mango ? Or ginger? I will definitely try with the orange but i live in the tropics so i would love to do the same thing with the local tropical fruits as this looks like an easy way to candy fruits. Thanks
Hi.
Haven’t tried it with other fruits, but I guess making candied fruits with mango works the same way. You basically replace the liquids in the fruits with sugar by cooking ;)
Cheers
Marc