So I learned something from this process of making candied citrus. I cannot, after one and a half weeks, remember to go back and make a sugar solution to brine these citrus slices in on a daily basis and it’s ok! They turned out fabulous!! It does take about a day and a half to dry them, and I found that after about 12-16 hours, if I cover them in sugar at that point, turn them and dry them for an additional 12-18 hours, they turn out best. That way they are tacky enough to hold the extra sugar and dry enough that you dont have much longer to wait.
drying, drying, drying...
These wound up being dried in batches over several days since I didnt want to tie up all of my baking sheets (how would I deal with that???) and drying racks for this process. Friends wandering in and out of the kitchen have a hard time keeping their paws of these little sparkly gems! It’s great! Everyone loves their fresh taste and I know that they will be appreciated all the more.
Next time, if I do this again, I think I will shorten the curing process down to one week or so because it doesnt seem to need the full two weeks and make alot more of the lemon (cuz its good in tea, sugar and lemon all at once, in a neat presentation!), no lime, and more grapefruit – and of course, oranges! Because I ran out of steam to deal with these, I didnt dunk any in chocolate, but I might later this week as another upcoming post has melted chocolate drizzled on it…
The drying process is easily done during nap time and takes just minutes every day or so, but you will need a lot more sugar on hand to dust the slices with, it takes a considerable amount. If your citrus is still pretty wet and tacky, dont bother trying to roll them in sugar as they will just soak up the sugar and eventually when it is fully dried, the sugar will come off in one chunk, leaving a baren, naked spot on your fruit.
It will be awhile before I make these again…. it took a long time, although it lasts for a long time, provided you dont eat them all! I can’t wait to appreciate a candied lemon slice in my next cocktail! Oh, and the grapefruit was perfectly tart and sweet like a sour patch kid candy! What will you do with your citrus?
grapefruit!
Recipe Continued:
Remove the slices of fruit from the sugar solution; then you have a few choices of what to do with them. But first, arrange o the fruit on drying racks at room temperature for one to two days until they are less tacky. You can lay them out on parchment paper, making tsure to turn them over each day so that they can thoroughly dry . Then, to finish:
- Roll them in sugar (plain, vanilla or with a touch of citric acid)
- Dip them in chocolate (white, dark or tempered milk chocolate)
- Do both! Dip one part in chocolate and roll the other part in sugar.
Store these at room temperature for one month or in the fridge for six months. This recipe can be done for any citrus you like.
Those look beautiful! I love the look of the ruby red grapefruit – the contrast between the flesh and the peel is really summery. : )
Let us know how the lemon does in the tea!
Don’t they?? will do!