Hi guys! I know it’s been SO long. Every time I have a long stint of not posting, you can definitely bet it’s because I’m focusing on my family.
It’s hard to believe that we’re already nearing the end of the year.. and Christmas! I knew I had to make something festive this week and I have been seeing these candied orange slices ALL over Instagram. Of course, I had to make them and I had to make them MY way.
I LOVE making these because you can get 2 gifts in one, the slices AND you can use the excess simple syrup for gifts! I’m going to bottle my simple syrup up and hand them out (but if you do that-be sure to keep it refrigerated! They should last in the fridge for a month.)
Make sure you follow the steps EXACTLY. If you don’t, you could have chewy slices and a bitter flavor that is much to be desired. I made these a few times. Grapefruit wasn’t my favorite, regular lemons were insanely chewy, but oranges and meyer lemons were JUST right. I definitely recommend sticking to those or if you DO do grapefruit, boil them slightly longer.
*NOTES*
- Be sure to follow recipe exactly.
2. Make sure you gently move the citrus around in the pot to ensure that they all cook evenly.
3. Do NOT put too many in the pot. A single layer with a few more is perfect. You could also use 2 pots if you do not want this process to take longer.
4. DO NOT try to dry these in the oven. Most ovens get too hot to do this properly. You must wait to let them dry for 24 hours on the counter OR you can dehydrate them at 115 F for about 6 hours OR until fully dry and just SLIGHTLY tacky.
Candied Citrus-Vanilla Slices
Ingredients
- 8 oranges sliced to 1/4" thick
- 4 meyer lemons sliced to 1/4" thick
- 3 cups cane sugar
- 3 cups water
- 2 vanilla beans or 1 tsp vanilla powder/extract
Instructions
- Place a large pot filled with water on the stove and bring to a boil.
- While water begins to boil, prep your citrus slices by washing, drying, and slicing them to 1/4" thick.
- Carefully place citrus slices in boiling water and boil for 2 minutes, flipping over half-way through.
- Carefully remove citrus from boiling water. They shouldn't if you only did 2 minutes, but if they start to fall apart, they were boiled for too long.
- Place citrus on a cooling rack and cool them to room temperature.
- While citrus is cooling, place a large pot on stove and add sugar, water, and vanilla. Put burner on medium heat and stir syrup mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Adjust heat to make sure the syrup only stays at a simmer and add citrus slices. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, OR until slices are near translucent.
- Remove slices from pot once they are near translucent. Place them on a cooling rack and dry completely at room temperature (about 24 hours) OR place in a food dehydrator at 115°℉ for 6-8 hours, or until mostly dry and SLIGHTLY tacky.
- Once slightly tacky and dry, place citrus slices in a bowl of sugar to coat. This removes the excess stickiness.
- Dip each slice in chocolate, optional. I like to use white chocolate and vanilla bean.
- Serve at parties, in cookie boxes, or just snack on them yourself! 🙂