Lemon and Lime Peels
To Make Candied Orange Peel,
Goodman, p. 202.
To make candied orange peel, divide the peel of one orange into five quarters and scrape with a knife to remove the white part inside, then put them to soak in good sweet water for nine days, and change the water every day; then cook them in good water just till boiling, and when this happens, spread them on a cloth and let them get thoroughly dry, then put them in a pot with enough honey to cover them, and boil on a low fire and skim, and when you believe the honey is cooked, (to test if it is cooked, have some water in a bowl, and let drip into this one drop of the honey, and if it spreads, it is not cooked; and if the drop of honey holds together in the water without spreading out, it is cooked;) and then you must remove your orange peel, and make one layer with it, and sprinkle with ginger powder, then another layer, and sprinkle etc., and so on; and leave it a month or more, then eat.
Sylvie’s Redaction:
Cut lemons into quarters. Remove the fruit and juice and use for another dish (I made citrus sauce). Place the peels in water and boil with salt. Drain water. Rinse peels. Add more water, boil again. Drain. Rinse. Add more water, boil again. Drain. Rinse. Use a spoon to remove the white pith from the rind. Cut rind into slivers (1-2 inches long by 1/2-1/4 inch wide). Allow to dry overnight. Place dried rinds into a sauce pan and cover with honey. Boil it until the honey reaches soft ball stage. Strain peels from honey. Spread peels out on wax paper. Allow to dry.
As a result of poor planning on my part we didn’t actually start making these until 3-4 weeks before the feast. With that shortened timeframe we decided to boil the peels to remove the pith rather than let them soak over several days.
After allowing the honeyed peels to dry for several weeks I found that the honey was still sticky. We decided to dredge these in sugar to make them less sticky.
These are very very tasty. They retained the taste of the fruit they came from. They really were a nice end-of-meal breath freshener snack.
