How to Make Candied Fruit Yourself

Candied fruit can be made from most types of fruit. Good examples are apples, pears, strawberries, grapes, cherries, pineapples or oranges. The size of the fruit you want to candy is important: the portions should be bite-sized, but not too small. While small fruits such as currants tend to be unsuitable, it is best to cut larger fruits such as apples or oranges into smaller pieces before processing them further. Stone fruit must also be pitted. Fruits with firm skin should be pricked several times so that the sugar solution can penetrate the fruit.

The candying takes place over several days, during which the fruits are soaked four times in a sugar solution and dried extensively in the last step. For the sugar solution, mix one liter of water with one kilogram of sugar. The solution is now heated in the pot and boiled until it pulls strings. After that, let them cool down to around 20 degrees Celsius. Put the fruit in a sieve and hang it in a second pot. In the next step, pour the cooled sugar solution over the fruit, making sure all the pieces are well covered with the liquid. Cover and leave the fruit to stand for about a day so that you can absorb the sugar well.

The next day, boil the drained sugar solution a second time and hang the sieve with the fruit in the first pot. This time, you only let the sugar solution cool down to 40 degrees Celsius. Pour the solution over the fruit again, making sure they are completely covered. Then cover again and leave to stand for another 24 hours. The following day, repeat the procedure with the difference that you only let the sugar solution cool down to 80 degrees. After the fruit has been in the solution for another day, boil the liquid one last time and pour it, cooled to 80 degrees Celsius, directly over the candied fruit.

In the last step, the fruit must drain and dry. It is best to place it on a wire rack or wire rack. Then put the fruit in a warm room, the drying process then takes about two days. Once the candied fruits have dried, they can be eaten or stored in a closed jar. Stored dry, they will keep for several months or even longer.