Around the holidays you find many recipes that call for candied fruits. I use them in my Panettone recipe from Artisan Bread in Five, in a chocolate ginger biscotti, a Trinidadian rum cake, for my granny’s maple brown-butter shortbread cookies or just dipped in bittersweet chocolate.
The problem is most of the candied fruit you can find in the stores are flavorless, overly sweet and has a chemical after taste. Not exactly inspiring! Many people forgo the candied fruit altogether in order to avoid these lackluster store-bought products. It is a shame, because making your own is so easy and they are absolutely addicting. I make a huge batch and end up eating half of it right off of the drying rack. I love the the color and taste of the candied grapefruit, but you can use the same technique to make candied orange, lemon, lime or any other citrus fruit.
There are many different ways to candy fruit but I find this one the easiest. I learned this technique when I was at the CIA from Thomas Gumpel. I think Emily Luchetti does a marvelous job of explaining it in her Four-Star Desserts
How to Make Candied Grapefruit
Find the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
Pick beautifully colored fruit and wash it well!
Cut off the skin of the fruit,
then cut it into strips and remove some of the bitter pith. Don’t go crazy, it won’t matter that much in the end and you don’t want the candy to be too thin.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the peels. Boil for 5 minutes and strain. Refill the pot with fresh water and bring it to a boil again. Add the peels and boil for another 5 minutes, strain and repeat this 2 more times for a total of 4 pots of boiling fresh water. This process of blanching the peels removes the bitter flavor and is essential to the success of your efforts.
Place your blanched peels in the pot, add the sugar, 1 1/2 cups water and lemon juice.
Cook on medium low heat until all of the peels are translucent, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Drain the citrus peels on a wire rack, with a piece of parchment or cookie sheet under it, to catch the drips. Let sit several hours (overnight) to air-dry.
Toss the candied peels in sugar! They will last at room temperature for a couple of weeks.
Ingredients
- 2 small grapefruits, washed or 3 oranges, lemons or limes
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar plus more for coating the candied fruit
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice or 1 tablespoon corn syrup this prevents the sugar from crystallizing as you cook the fruit in the syrup
Instructions
- Pick beautifully colored fruit and wash it well! Cut off the skin of the fruit, then cut it into strips and remove some of the bitter pith. Don’t go crazy, it won’t matter that much in the end and you don’t want the candy to be too thin.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the peels. Boil for 5 minutes and strain. Refill the pot with fresh water and bring it to a boil again. Add the peels and boil for another 5 minutes, strain and repeat this 2 more times for a total of 4 pots of boiling fresh water. This process of blanching the peels removes the bitter flavor and is essential to the success of your efforts.
- Cook on medium low heat until all of the peels are translucent, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Drain the citrus peels on a wire rack, with a piece of parchment or cookie sheet under it, to catch the drips. Let sit several hours (overnight) to air-dry.
- Toss the candied peels in sugar! They will last at room temperature for a couple of weeks.
Hi Lace,
If the syrup is not bitter than I would reduce it down just a bit and use it as a citrus caramel sauce for ice cream or even under a cake.
Best, Zoë
Have any ideas on what to do with the leftover syrup?
So pretty!
I’m not big on candied fruit but the grapefruit peels are so pretty! I would make them just to put out as decoration 🙂
Great looking candied grapefruit! Merry Christmas to you, Zoë!
You’re blog is amazing! I’ll be sure to link you!
Wonderful all around! I found that using a vegetable peeler made very quick work of removing the white pith. Using a peeler you can easily control how thick you make your slices.
I wish I had seen this recipe before I made the panettone out of “Artisan Baking in 5.” My candied orange peel from another cookbook came out fairly soggy and needed to dry for much longer before I got the texture I wanted. Thank you.
Hi Conrad,
This reminds me of my childhood. My parents never gave me candy or any of the stuff other kids would get for lunch. I would always try to trade for Twinkies or any other junk food. I appreciate the foods they fed me now that I’m in my 40s, but back then I wanted a peanut butter and fluff sandwich so badly! 😉
Try the candied citrus again, I bet you’ll love it!
Zoë
My mother made these for years. She had a cousin who worked for Sunkist and she used to send a box of oranges and a box of grapefruit every year. I can’t say I quite acquired the taste as a youngster but maybe now in my old age I might actually enjoy them. The funny thing was that there was a friend at school that loved them and I would take them and trade him for the things my mother would never buy like Hostess Ding Dongs and Ho Ho’s. Probably a epicurean sacrilege but what’s a kid to do growing up in the home of a healthy gourmet.
Zoe, you always make everything look so easy. I am really intrigued by the candied fruit, and think I might give it a try! Thanks for always making your blog so enjoyable and fascinating!
Those grapefruit peels are beautiful! I’d be tempted to eat them all myself;)
Candied grapefruit peel? Yummo! They look beautiful!
These look gorgeous! What a fun treat to make for holiday gift-giving, and perhaps keep just enough for myself 😉
Hi Zoe,
Another great tip; I have been making jams and marmalades from bitter oranges and grapefruit and have the peel in the pot for four days changing the water 2-3 times a day to get the bitter taste off after blanching them once, I guess this way I save the time and do the jam the same day! What do you think?
Seasons greetings, best wishes from us.
S & S
Oh how beautiful and yummy. I am going to try these!! Thanks for the recipe and your pictures are so pretty! 🙂
Your candied grapefruit came out absolutely beautiful…
They must be delicious!!
(I’ve based mine recipe on CIA also…)
The grapefruit sound so amazing! I might try them in the middle of my next batch of aebleskiver!
Congrats to Jane!
I’ve become a great lover of candied orange peels, but have yet to try candied grapefruit. Yours look great!
i love candied citrus peel… hmm…
Hi Elena,
Great question! It is just the peel you want to add. I’ll fix that in the directions.
Thanks, Zoë
Mmm, I love candied citrus peels. I’ve made them once or twice, but no time this year, unfortunately!
Hi, Zoe
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I have a question: when you say “add the fruit”-you mean peel only, right? Or should I add the grapefruit itself?
thanks,
Another great holiday idea – adding to my baa hum bug list for 2009! Love these!
Congrats Jane!
Zoe, I have *always* wanted to make candied grapefruit peels. I don’t know what I’m waiting for. These look so good! And they’re pretty, too.