Candied Grapefruit Peels

Now, here is a Christmas gift I’m sure they’re all going to love…Candied Grapefruit Peels.  Well, not as sweet as the orange and lemon peels these beautifully pink candied strips are for those who like a little bitter with they’re sugar.

I won’t lie…they do take time to make but you can do most of the work in an evening and then carry on while they do their thing and dry over the next couple of days.  Coating them in sugar is easy and kind of fun and packing them in some vintage jars just adds that finished touch.

The recipe I used is the same as for the Candied Orange Peels…but I’ll show you step by step.

First, you’ll need to choose some beautiful citrus fruit.  I picked up half a dozen Florida grapefruits at the grocery store the other day.  Look for fruit that has a nice colour and that’s rind is free of brown marks.  Then wash the fruit, cut in half and juice.  Save the juice for another purpose.  I’m enjoying mine with a little vodka, grenadin and some sprite…tasty and sure to get you through this entire process.

Once the grapefruits (oranges, limes, lemons or whatever you’ve selected) are juiced; put them in a large stainless steel or nonreactive saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil on high and reduce to a lively simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain the water and repeat this process 2 or 3 times depending on the bitterness of your rind.  For the grapefruit I did it three times.

When you’ve done that 2 or 3 times drain them again.  Add enough cold water to cover and now boil them partially covered for between 30-60 minutes or until the rinds are tender.  Drain again and leave them to cool to your touch.  I don’t know how long…maybe 15 minutes.  Then taking a spoon remove the inner flesh and as much of the pith as possible…leaving just a little white pith.  I admit scraping the pith out of the grapefruits was a little more challenging than that of the oranges and I wasn’t really sure that I had done it well enough.  Use your best judgement.  Experiment.  I don’t think you can screw it up after all they do eventually get coated in SUGAR.

Once the flesh and pith is  removed slice the peel into thin strips… approximately 1/4″. 

Return the strips to your saucepan and add 4 1/2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water. 

Cook, without stirring, until the undersides of the rinds appear semitranslucent and the liquid is syrupy and forms a swell of foaming bubbles, approximately 1 hour.  You can see here how much thicker the liquid is from the above photo and that bubbles are swirling in the center.  At this point you need to turn off the heat and let the rinds and syrup cool for 30 minutes. 

After letting it cool for about 30 minutes use a slotted spoon to remove the rinds from the syrupy mess.  Place each strip on a wire rack over a cookie sheet so the remaining syrup has some place to drip.  Then all you have to do is wait. 

The grapefruit peels took 4-5 days to dry sufficiently.  I just kept checking them each morning to see if they were ready.  I am not sure why it took 2 days longer than the oranges other than the fact the rinds were a little thicker.  I am not sure if you can tell from the picture but the ready rinds are not as juicy.  They are dried out but still quite sticky (more so on one side).

I place the sugar in a stainless steel bowl but you could use a cookie sheet or whatever you want to dredge the rinds through the sugar.  I just give them a few good tosses and them pack them into clean sterilized jars.

And, that my friends is that!   On the first night give yourself about 3 hours to do all of the boiling, flesh and pith removing, slicing, and boiling in sugar…but after that it is a piece of cake.  They are really tasty and a unique Christmas gift.  Give it a try and let me know how you make out.  Next, I am going to try Candied Ginger.  My mom loves it!

Put up Total:

• 1 x 1L vintage regular mouth mason jar
• 3 x 500mL vintage regular mouth mason jar