According to Buddy the Elf, elves try to stick to four main food groups: “candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup”. And in a season when elves play an increased role in some of our psyches, we are in a candying frame of mind and standing ready to help Buddy and his fellows keep to their dietary preferences.
Candied fruit is, of course, a seasonal staple ingredient for celebratory cakes, pies that reference historic connections to meat (and confuse those not brought up with an idea of ‘mincemeat’ as something meat-free and heavily fruited), and a host of other festive fare falling into elf-adjacent categories. Candied peel, we’ll admit, can easily be sourced in the average supermarket at this time of the year: sitting in syrup, chopped into tiny dice, and crammed tight into flimsy plastic tubs – ready for action and to add its slightly medicinal tasting, bitter-sweet note to whatever it is that you may want to use it for.
The home-made variety we are going to share a recipe for here is, by contrast, a whole different animal of a superior nature. Tangy, citrussy, sweetly aromatic, slightly addictive and super easy to make – it will also perfume your house like Christmas oranges while you prepare it. And if you’re already eating or juicing oranges, it’s a no-brainer – a recipe to prevent you from throwing away a perfectly good ingredient.
Ingredients:
- 4-5 oranges – or other citrus fruit (peel only – see below for methods)
- 500g granulated sugar (+ extra, or caster, for dredging)
- 250ml water (+ extra for blanching)
Prepare the Oranges
- There is more than one way to skin an orange. It may be that you already have some oranges that you have juiced – you can use the skin from these. Or you can cut the oranges in half (crosswise) and scoop and scrape the pulp and membranes from the centre leaving a cleaned-out half with white pith intact. Alternatively, you can do as we have here and disrobe your orange with a sharp knife, leaving behind a naked fruit ready to slice or to segment for a salad, a dessert, your breakfast, … – your house, your rules!
- Once you have your peel – free from flesh and membrane, and further trimmed of any extremes of white pith if you are a complete perfectionist – slice it into whatever size and shape appeals to you – we went for approx ½ cm wide long strips.
- The peel now requires pre-softening or ‘blanching’. Place the peel in a heavy-based pan, cover in boiling water (a boiling water tap makes this easy, but a kettle will do), bring back to the boil on a hob, then simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander.
- Repeat this process four times more (5 times in total). This is necessary for reducing the bitterness of the peel and preparing it to receive the sugar.
Make a Sugar Syrup
- The quantities given in our ingredients are normally right for the quantity of oranges given, but it is the proportions that are important – one part water to two parts sugar is the formula – you need enough syrup to comfortably submerge the peel.
- In the same (rinsed) heavy-based pan you have been using for blanching, add the sugar and water and, over a low heat, stir the sugar gently until it has completely dissolved. Then turn the heat up high, bring to a boil, and boil for about a minute.
Candying Method
- Add the peel, distribute it evenly, bring back to the boil momentarily, and then lower the heat to medium and allow to simmer*, partially covered, for about an hour and a half. This enables the peel to absorb the sugar right through to its core. *We used a Bora hob on level 3
- The peel is ready when it is tender and slightly translucent, by which time the syrup will also have become thicker and bubblier.
- Remove the peel from the hot syrup and lay on a draining rack to cool (put a tray underneath, lined with baking parchment, to catch any drips).
- Once the peel is cooled and no longer dripping syrup or feeling wet to the touch, transfer to a tray lined with waxed or baking paper, dredge in sugar (caster or granulated), toss to coat, and leave to finish drying somewhere suitable – until it is no longer tacky. Your candied peel is now ready to use or to store in an airtight container.
Serving Suggestions
- You can dip these strips of peel into melted chocolate to serve with coffee or offer as gifts, use them as an ingredient in Xmas cakes and pies, or as a garnish for any number of sweet things – or feel free to eat them straight up as a snack – naked, unashamed, and at will. As a kindness to any hardworking elves in the vicinity, you can also leave them accessible in places where elves are likely to visit – keeping them suitably nourished while they carry out their seasonal toil.
