Candied Citrus

The Holidays are here! This means yummy winter citrus! Making candied peels out of your oranges, grapefruit and lemon peels is a wonderful way to make the most out of your fruit. Candied peels are a great garnish to add to ice cream or cakes to make them a little more festive. You can also chop them and mix them in with your favorite bread dough or muffin batter. Dip them in some chocolate and and you've got yourself an easy gift!

Ingredients

Your choice of citrus –

2 grapefruits

3 oranges

4 lemons

4 cups of water

4 cups of sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions

Make several cuts from the top to the bottom of the citrus, deep enough to penetrate the peel without cutting into the fruit.

Carefully remove the peel from the fruit. Cut the peels lengthwise into about ¼ inch wide strips. Remove extra fruit from each strip.

Place peels in large pot and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and then drain. Repeat this process twice.

In a separate pan, combine 4 cups of sugar and 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally until sugar dissolves.

Using a pastry brush wet the sides of the pan to stop sugar crystals from forming.

Add peels to the mixture and simmer over medium-low heat until peels are translucent. About an hour.

Remove from heat. Once peels have cooled remove from syrup and place on a wire rack. Use paper towels to blot off extra syrup and roll strips in sugar. Arrange in a single layer and let dry for 30 minutes.