Candy limau

December 14, 2011

Candied Tangerines

My daughter joined FFA this year and we have already been part of the Mums fundraiser, the Citrus fundraiser and in March they will be selling Tilapia that they have grown themselves. I ordered a box of Tangerines and even though we peeled them, juiced them, and juggled them, we still had more than we could eat before they were destined to go bad. Lately I’ve been fascinated at the idea of harvesting (buying in this instance) and putting aside for another time. Fruit was often candied or jarred in sugar syrup so that it could be enjoyed as an out of season treat. So we decided to candy up a bowl of slices and save a few to dip in chocolate so we can enjoy them on Christmas Eve while we open our presents. (Find the recipe at the end of the post.)

These treats can be eaten as candy, used to garnish holiday drinks such as cocoa, coffee, hot toddies, spiced cider. The slices can also be cut or chopped and added to cookies, quick breads and savory stuffings. There is no limit to what you can do with these morsels.

The recipe is simple enough:

• 1 part water to 1 part sugar (this is a simple syrup), in a pot, on the heat to dissolve the sugar
• Add in your slices (or peels) when sugar is dissolved and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Take pot off heat and let rest for 10 minutes
• Put pot back on heat and simmer for another 30-45 minutes (stirring occasionally), you want the citrus to look completely translucent and you want the syrup to be thick enough to be coating the spoon or spatula that you are using to stir.
• Take the citrus out of the syrup (don’t throw the syrup away! It will be wonderful in drinks or on waffles) and lay them on a rack to cool.
• Once cooled, rolled them in sugar. Or shake them in a bag with sugar. Done! Cooling may take several hours, it really depends on the humidity in the air. You may want to set the trays in your oven to keep them in a dryer environment while ‘setting’.
• But you could go that extra step and dip a few in chocolate…we used bittersweet chips. Yum.

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