How to Make Candied Citrus Peel

This week, I am going to attempt to make my very first Rosca de Reyes (King's Bread) for El Dia de los Reyes Magos (3 Kings Day) on Friday.   (More on that tomorrow.)

Aside from the dough, there are two important factors in preparing any Rosca de Reyes: the tiny Niño Dios (the Christ child) figurines that are tucked inside AND the candied fruit topping to decorate the Rosca.

I spent the better part of yesterday morning searching high and low for the figurines that I've collected over the years.  (I save them all, because I don't think I could live with myself if I threw away the baby Jesus.)  I only found two, which is fine, but I know I have more hidden away somewhere.

With my search and rescue mission out of the way, I was finally able to get to work on making the candied citrus peels to decorate my Rosca with.  I could have skipped this step and just decorated my Rosca with sugar topping, but I really wanted it to look like the traditional Rosca we eat year after year.  And since candied citrus peels aren't something I can find at the stores here in town,  I had to make my own.  I once saw it done on an episode of Sugar (an awesome Food Network Canada show) and it looked easy enough, so why not?

Now, I know that everything always looks easier on TV and when attempting to make it at home it's always harder to do than you imagined.  But that wasn't the case with this recipe.  It was so incredibly easy!  And inanely delicious!

I used grapefruit, tangerine and lime peel, but any citrus fruit will work.  (I'm thinking lemons!)  The lime and tangerine peels were very thin to begin with, so there wasn't much to bite into.  They tasted really good, but I wanted something with more to chew on.

My favorite was the grapefruit.  I'm head-over-heals in love with these candied grapefruit peels!  The peel is thicker, so there's definitely more to chew on.  I had to force myself to stop eating them because I wouldn't have enough to decorate my Rosca with later.  They were that good.  Even my Hubby and kiddies love them and they never eat the candied citrus peel on the Rosca.

Even if you're not making a Rosca de Reyes, these candied citrus peels are a sweet treat that you really have to try.

Candied Citrus Peel

Candied Citrus Peel
(recipe from Anna Olson)

Ingredients:

  • 1 grapefruit
  • 2 mandarin oranges (tangerines)
  • 3 limes
  • 2 cups water
  • 2-1/4 cup sugar.

Directions:
Slice the tops and bottoms of of the fruits.  Score the peel in to 3 or 4 pieces with a knife.  Peel the fruits and slice the peels into thin strips.  (For the grapefruit, I cut the slices about 1/4-inch thick.)

Citrus Peel Prep 1

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  In another saucepan, combine 2 cups of water with 2 cups of the sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Add the peels to the pot of boiling water and let simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until the white part of the citrus peel has turned translucent.

citrus peel prep 2

With a slotted spoon, transfer the citrus peels to the pot with the water/sugar syrup.   Let simmer for about 15 minutes.

citrus peel prep 3

Drain the citrus peels and lay them on a sheet of parchment paper or a lightly greased baking sheet and let dry for a few hours.  (About 4 hours.)  Roll candied citrus peels in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar.

citrus peel prep 4

Store the candied citrus peels in an airtight container until ready to use.  Enjoy!!!

Candied Citrus Peel 2



Photobucket
Linking up with Newlywed's Blog Recipe Linky & #CitrusLove Blog-Hop


25 comments

  1. Testing old comment form to see if it still works!

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  2. me encantaaaa! this is the first time that I find the receipe, I am excited about trying it, I am always looking for healthy snacks for my children and I think this is great :)

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  3. I love candied citrus peels. LOVE! Yours turned out beautifully...I can't wait to see your Rosca de Reyes! Great picture, too =)

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  4. @Girlichef: I'm trying! One of my goals for 2012 is to improve my photography. Good thing I've got great teachers like you. :)

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  5. I learned to make this candied peels many years ago, but I forgot about it until now. I´ll be waiting for the post with the Rosca de Reyes pictures.

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  6. Lindísimo! Como dice el comentario anterior, alguien me explicó como hacerlo y lo había olvidado.

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  7. Hi Leslie I just want to say I love both of your blobs and I have truly been inspired by you to make more of an effort to learn to cook im a Chicana from Texas who would love to learn to improve her cooking and impress my family.and thanks to you I am doing so. I think you are very brilliant and I have lived in mx myself and let me say that the food in Mexico is delicious and when I cooked the enfrojoladas off your recipe index mmmmm it was good! Damn good.....thank you Leslie for showing me a new way to cook. I actually regret deleting my facebook now because I would add you.

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  8. And I even wrote down my favorites recipes in a notebook I have..and tomorrow ima go to the store and buy the ingridents to make your gorditas.I hope they come out good. P.s my mom is from the state of chihuahua so I feel like we have a few things in common. With love ....from Texas...

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  9. Leslie do u have any tamale recipes like raja tamales or carne de piercing en salsa roja tamales

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  10. This is awesome Leslie. I want to try this with ginger. Que rico! Thank you!

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  11. I've actually never heard of this but this looks yummy!

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  12. I haven't made candied citrus peel in years. Sometimes it is just nice to be reminded...Thanks for the lovely recipe.

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  13. I can smell the citrus. Looks so delicious and gives me an idea to try to make candied peels with multiple fruits. Thank you.

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  14. Thanks for the recipe. I usually buy the candied fruit peels and add them to my homemade rosca, but now I can make that as well. Gracias!

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  15. Looks like a great alternative to candy! Visiting from citrus bloghop!

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  16. I love this candied citrus peel recipe! Must bookmark this so I can try it. Thanks for sharing the citrus-love !

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  17. I love candies citrus peel, I made a similar one too for #citruslove. Nice meeting you!

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  18. That is perfect. Some ice cream recipes call for candied citrus peel. I like your version better...also, what a great gift!

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  19. ooh second candied citrus in series and looking good. It is a fussy affair but love the results at the end. new to your site through blog hopping.

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  20. Good on you for not taking lazy easy street (which I do). Was it really that easy??? Loved the kids Reyes costumes, too!

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  21. Oh I love it! This is a great post.... no wonder I love your blog so much.... you never disappoint me. :)

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  22. Oh how fun, and really sounds like it would be fun in loads of recipes:-) Beautiful! Hugs, Terra

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