sweet-sour candied citrus peel

This sweet/sour candied citrus peel is a flavourful garnish for cakes, pastries and fruity salads, capturing the fragrant essential oils in the peel. Coated in a mix of sugar and citric acid, it tastes like sour jelly sweets.

recipe

Makes about 100g
Prep/cook time: 40 minutes, plus a few hours drying time

ingredients

• 1/2 pomelo, 1 grapefruit, 1 orange, 2 lemons or 2 limes
• 200g + 3 heaped tbsp golden caster sugar
• 3 heaped tsp citric acid

instructions

• Wash the fruit and dry well. Peel as many lengths of zest as possible from the fruit, avoiding as much of the bitter white pith as possible. You can also scrape off excess pith with a teaspoon. Cut each piece of peel into long, 2-3mm strips.
• Bring 200g sugar and 200ml water to a boil in a medium saucepan, reduce the heat and simmer until lightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the peel and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes, until translucent.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peel pieces to a sieve and drain well. Put the remaining 3 heaped tbsp sugar and the citric acid in a lidded container and shake to combine. Add the drained peel and shake to evenly coat in the sugar.
• Transfer the coated peel to a piece of baking paper, arrange in an even layer and leave to dry for a few hours.

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recipe notes

serving ideas

• Use to top cakes, pastries and biscuits.
• Garnish fruity, sweet/sour salads.
• Eat like fizzy jelly sweets.

storage

• Once dry, the candied citrus peel can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months.
• The leftover syrup will have tons of citrus flavour, add to sparkling water to make homemade soda.

substitutions

• Vegan
• Use any type of citrus.

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