candied citrus peels a family tradition

Tradition: Candied grapefruit and orange peels

I have an essay about trying to find a holiday tradition in this month's issue of Martha Stewart's Body + Soul Magazine. I haven't been able to find a link to the essay online, but I will add one if they put it up later.

I've gotten several emails asking me for my mother-in-law's recipe for candied citrus peels, the tradition I wrote about.

Here is the recipe along with some pictures.


tradition candied citrus peels in bowl

Getting ready to boil the peels.
adding salt and water to citrus peels

Stirring is a family affair.
child stirring citrus peels

Draining the peels before adding the sugar.
draining the citrus peels

The peels and the sugar.
citrus peels and sugar before cooking them down

The syrup is forming.
citrus peels boiling down

Getting thick now.
citrus peels peels-cooking

The peels on the drying sheet.
candied citrus peels drying

All done.
candied citrus peels

Candied citrus peels

5 organic grapefruit peels
5 organic orange peels

(It doesn't really matter how many peels you use because this recipe is all about the ratio of sugar to peels.)

Take the collected peels and cut them into thin slices.

Boil them for about 20 minutes with some salt.

Measure the boiled peels. Put an equal volume of peels and sugar in a large sauce pan over high heat, stirring until the sugar turns into a syrup.

Turn the heat down so the syrup boils slowly. Stir often. Cook the mixture down until all the liquid is gone, leaving just crusted peels (this takes a long time). As the syrup thickens you have to stir more and more.

Dump the peels out on a cookie sheet (covered with waxed paper if you want).

Allow them to dry and harden.

posted December 19, 2009 | link | comments (9)

filed under: Photo stories, Recipes, candied citrus peels, holiday recipe, Martha Stewart's Body + Soul Magazine, tradition

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Comments

Love the pink porcelain sink and thanks for the recipe!

- by Uncle Laurie on Dec 21, 2009 at 12:55 PM | link

I assume you mean equal ratio of peels to sugar measured by weight not volume?

- by Shawn on Dec 21, 2009 at 2:05 PM | link

Actually, you measure by volume. It is a lot of sugar.

Uncle Laurie, I hate the sink color, but it came with the house. One day....

- by celinabean on Dec 22, 2009 at 7:50 PM | link

I did not know "Candied citrus peels" but I will try! What do I eat best with? Tea, coffee or wine???

- by Mari on Dec 23, 2009 at 11:10 PM | link

Hmmmm, I've never thought of this before. But the first thing that comes to mind would be Earl Grey tea. My mother-in-law recommends and Orange Pekoe tea with a little rum in it.

If you are one of those people who likes orange and chocolate, I think an Irish coffee (with Jameson whiskey) and some shaved chocolate on top would be lovely with them.

Of course, I've been looking for any excuse for an Irish coffee lately, but...

- by celinabean on Dec 24, 2009 at 4:15 PM | link

I just finished your B & S article and I loved it.
I haven't candied grapefruit peels in probably three years (babies!) but I just started saving rinds last night. My technique differs, but I'm intrigued by your salted parboil method.
Thanks for the great read and happy holidays!

- by nicole ray on Dec 27, 2009 at 10:52 AM | link

I am imagining these with a nice Arnold Palmer. Or just plain ol' iced tea. Not the right season right now, but boy don't these just look like little rays of sunshine?

- by Albany Jane on Dec 29, 2009 at 1:55 PM | link

I just did those a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't crazy about them plain so I dipped them in dark chocolate. Much better :)

- by Jennifer on Jan 2, 2010 at 12:21 AM | link

My grandma used to boil the peels with a star anise in it which gives the whole thing a slightly spicy flavor. Of course, I didn't learn to appreciate that until I'm much older.

- by josie on Jan 8, 2010 at 4:31 PM | link

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