Having a lemon (or orange) tree usually leaves you with an abundance of lemons, more lemons than you know what to do with. Candied Lemon slices is an excellent way to use up some of your lemons and it is a delicious treat. Candying is a means of preserving the fruit from spoilage.

Most candied fruits I find in shops are infused with so much sugar making them cloyingly sweet and bland tasting. I find them off-putting. This was until I bought a batch of mixed candied fruits on a trip to Dubai. The citrus slices were delicious. Not too sweet, flavourful, they still tasted like the fruits – lemon slices, orange slices and lime rind. The lemon and lime were sweet with a hint of bitterness.

So I did a lot of reading and learning, this recipe is a result of my experimenting and it’s absolutely awesome. It is chewy, flavourful and tart.

Honey or corn syrup (Invert sugar) is added to prevent the sugar from recrystallizing on the fruit.

You can use any citrus fruit-Lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime rind etc. The fruit can be candied whole, sliced or just the rind, with or without the pith. I used lemon, orange and tangerine.

Blanching the fruits first before candying does three things, it softens the fruit, removes any wax on the skin and some of the acid (bitterness).

You can air-dry the candied fruits outside, depending on the weather where you live. It is the harmattan period here in Nigeria, which is very dry with practically no rainfall. So, I placed my fruits outside covered with a muslin cloth and they turned out beautiful.

The resulting syrup from candied lemon slices is fruity and delicious, see below for uses.

To make Candied Lemon Slices, Candied Orange Slices

1 lemon
1 orange
2 cups water
2 cups Sugar
1 tablespoon Honey or corn syrup

Wash fruits thoroughly.

On a chopping board, using a sharp knife, cut fruits into 1/8-1/4 inch slices. (You can use a mandolin).

Remove any seeds.

Fill a bowl with very cold water and set aside.

Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet, set aside.

Add some water to a medium-size pot, bring to a boil, reduce to a rolling simmer.

Add Lemon and orange slices, simmer for 3 minutes then take them out immediately and place in the bowl of cold water.

Repeat two or three times, changing the water each time. (This is called blanching.

In a saucepan, put 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar.

Place over medium-high heat

Bring to a boil, boil until sugar has melted.

Add fruit slices, spreading them out as much as you can.

Reduce to a simmer.

Simmer for 60 to 90 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices.

When they are tender, translucent and the liquid has reduced considerably, turn off the heat.

Leave to stand in the syrup for at least two hours.

Remove slices and place on a cooling rack

Leave to air dry overnight or in a warm oven.

You can roll your candied fruits in sugar before storing them, I don’t.

Store the remaining syrup in an airtight jar.

Storage

Store your candied fruit in the refrigerator or freezer for months.

Uses for Candied lemon, Candied Orange

Serve as-is for an energising snack.
Dip in melted chocolate and serve.
Finely chop and add to cake, muffin, cereal, hot-cross buns.

Uses for the leftover syrup from candied lemon

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Turn into caramel sauce by adding butter and evaporated milk.
Turn into honeycomb by adding baking soda.
Pour over waffles, pancakes, fruit salad, fruit kebab, pound cake.
Soak Gulab Jamun in it.
Add to cocktails, drinks and tea.
Add ice for lemonade.
Glace Lemon poppyseed cake.

Notes

When slicing the fruits, don’t go too thin or too thick.
Do not let the sugar develop any colour when making the syrup.
Don’t throw out the leftover syrup.