Christmas is already round the corner. Joy of the festival is visible everywhere in the form of lights, decorations and of course, shopping! We just roamed everywhere and did enough shopping. Actually speaking, we won't celebrate Christmas in our home. But we are very much fond of Christmas Fruit Cake / Plum Cake. So, all the preparations are done to prepare the Fruit Cake!
Candied Peel is one of the key ingredients for Christmas Fruit Cake. Peel of citrus fruits such as orange, lemon are taken out in order to make the candied peel. Fruit peel will be chopped, boiled, drained and then cooked in sugar syrup to make it delicious. Candied peel and candied fruits are easily available in the market especially during the Christmas time, but I always prefer making them at home.
Here is the easy recipe of making Candied orange peel. Thanks to Suma of Cakes And More for this wonderful recipe!
Preparation time: 1 1/4 hour
Cooling time: 1 hour
Yield: 30 - 32 pieces of peel
Difficulty level: Medium
Ingredients:
- 2 medium sized navel oranges
- Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Water - 1/2 cup + more water to cook the peel
Method:
- Cut the oranges into 4 equal halves and take out the peel carefully.
- Slit the peels into equal size pieces to ensure even cooking.
- Take about 2 cups of water in a vessel and bring to boil. Add the orange peel and cook it for 4 - 5 minutes. Now, drain all the water from the peel and run the peels through cold water.
- In order to remove the bitterness from the orange peel, I have repeated the above step two times.
- Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a vessel and heat it on the stovetop. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the orange peels and simmer the flame.
- Cook the peels for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or till the all sugar syrup is absorbed.
- Switch off the flame and leave the orange peels on a wire rack for an hour for cooling.
- Thats it, homemade orange peels are ready to use!
Tips:
- You can prepare Candied lemon peel using the above method.