Candied Lemon Peel (How to Make)

4.75 from 4 votes

Candied Lemon Peel (How to Make)

This candied lemon peel is delicious and super easy to make. Eat it as a snack or use it to decorate your treats. A perfect recipe!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Drying Time30

Total Time1 5

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: cup

Calories: 611.8kcal

Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

1 lemon cut the skin
500 ml water

Sugar Syrup

100 ml water
100 g white coarse sugar

Sugar Coating

50 g granulated sugar

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Cut off the skin of the lemon using a sharp paring knife into long strips.
Using a sharp knife, slice off as much of the white pith that is attached to the lemon peel slices as possible.
Cut the peel slices further into about 1mm to 2mm wide and about 2cm to 3cm long. Set aside.
Fill a medium-sized saucepan with 500ml water.
Turn on the heat and let the water boil. Add the cut lemon peels and cook them in medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Strain the peels and discard the water.
Return the saucepan to the stove to make the simple syrup.
Add water and sugar and turn on the heat to a medium flame.
Once the sugar is dissolved, reduce the flame to low heat. Add the strained peels and cook for about 10 minutes, until they turn translucent.
Strain the syrup.
Let the candied peels dry slightly in the strainer for about 10 minutes. Transfer them to a bowl of granulated sugar. Use a fork to stir the peels in the sugar until they are well coated.
Place the sugar-coated candied lemon peel on a parchment-lined tray and let them dry for about 30 minutes.
Store the candied lemon peel in an airtight container.

Notes

These candied peels are best made with fresh lemons. Choose the ones that look fresh and plump rather that those that look dry. The candied peels will be a lot softer and chewy when made with fresh peel.
Once the lemon peel is all prepared and cut, it is best to cook and candy them on the same day or within the next day. They tend to become dry if you keep them for a few days. When candied, these peels will be hard and dry compared to the ones made immediately after the peel is cut and sliced.
It is always easier to peel the lemon skin when it is still not juiced. Hence, if you intend to both cut the skin for making candied lemon peels and juice the lemon for something else, remember to cut the skin first before you juice the fruits.
When cooking the lemon peels in the syrup, make sure the heat is the lowest possible. This will allow the peels sufficient time to cook to a translucent stage and at the same time, avoid the sugar syrup from thickening too much. If it does, you will have a problem straining it out once the lemons peels are cooked.
Once you have drained the syrup from the peels, you literally have a lovely batch of lemon-infused sugar syrup that can be used to make any citrus-flavored drink. Keep the syrup refrigerated.
When straining the sugar syrup of the lemon peels, it is best to do it in a strainer. Leave the peels in the strainer for a few minutes (about 5 to 10 minutes) to allow all the excess syrup to drain out. The syrup will be quite thick, hence the need to give it time to properly drain out.
Also, take note to not leave the peels in the strainer too long. I did that once and realized the syrup coating on the peels has dried up. And when I tried to coat the peels with granulated sugar, the sugar would not stick to the peels.
These candied lemon peels are best coated in granulated sugar. Firstly, it sticks to the peels better. Secondly, the regular sugar granules are large and can make your peels a little too sweet. You can also use fine brown sugar in place of the granulated sugar.

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