Candied Lemon Peel

Can­died Lemon Peel

lemons–however many you want to use. Three large lemons will yield about 1/4 cup of can­died lemon.

water

sim­ple syrup (Depend­ing  on the amount of lemons you are using–equal parts of water and sugar. 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup would work well for 1–6 lemons.)

addi­tional gran­u­lated white sugar

Wash lemon well.

Using a lemon zester/scorer, remove the thinnest layer of peel from the whole out­side of the lemon. If you do not have one of these tools, peel the very outer layer (no white!) very care­fully from the lemon. Try to get the longest peels you can. It’s eas­i­est to go from tip to tip all the way around the lemon. Then take these strips and cut them into very nar­row (1/16 inch) strips.

Place the peels into a pan of water, cov­er­ing the peels by a 1/2 inch. Blanch the strips by sim­mer­ing them for 5 minutes.

Drain the strips.

Into the same pan, com­bine sugar and water in equal parts to make a sim­ple syrup. Bring to a boil. Add the blanched lemon strips and reduce heat to a simmer.

Sim­mer in the syrup for 5–10 min­utes, or until the strips begin to turn translu­cent. The syrup will have started to thicken.

Strain the strips from the syrup and sep­a­rate them out onto a sheet pan lined with waxed paper, parch­ment, or a sil­pat liner. Let them sit until cooled, but still slightly sticky.

Toss the strips in gran­u­lated white sugar and lay out on a clean sheet pan to dry. Use to gar­nish desserts.

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