Dave Parker
It doesn’t matter whether it’s citrus fruits, berries or pineapple: With sugar, water and a little patience, you can candy a lot of fresh fruit and thus preserve it for a long time. Everything about the current #candiedfruit food trend and how to make candied fruit yourself.
Candiing is actually an ancient method of making fruit last longer. Water is removed from the fruit and sugar is added at the same time. Due to the high sugar content, the sweet fruits can be kept for many months.
You can candy almost any fruit: grapes, lemons, oranges, raspberries, kiwis, apples, bananas and and and.
It is best to buy regional organic fruit. In this way you do not burden the climate unnecessarily and you can be sure that the fruits are free of synthetic pesticides.
The sweet fruits are currently experiencing a boom on social media under the hashtag #candiedfruit. Here you can find out everything about the sweet preservation method that dates back to great-grandmother’s times.
Make candied fruit yourself: Here’s how
1 day:
Wash the fruit and remove the pits or stones. Fruits with an inedible skin – such as kiwis, pineapples or mangoes – should be peeled before candying.
Cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces or slices.
You can blanch hard fruits such as apples or pears before candying, i.e. put them in a pot of boiling hot water for two minutes and then put them briefly in a bowl of ice water.
Poke small holes in the fruit with a wooden skewer or a sharp fork. The holes ensure that the sugary solution can penetrate as deeply as possible into the fruit.
Mix sugar and water in a ratio of 1:1 (e.g. 100 grams of sugar to 100 milliliters of water) and let the mixture boil until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then let the sugar solution cool down.
Pour the cooled liquid over the pieces of fruit so that they are completely covered by the sugar solution. Cover the container and leave for a day.
Day 2: After 24 hours pour off the sugar solution, bring to the boil again and allow to cool. When the mixture is lukewarm, pour it over the sugar fruits again and leave for another day.
Day 3 and 4: Repeat this process on the third and fourth day. On the fourth day, the solution may be poured hot over the fruit.
Day 5: On the last day, pour the fruit through a sieve and let it dry on a wire rack. Now the delicious candied fruit is ready.
Tips & tricks for candiing fruit
You can also let the fruit dry in the oven after the fourth and final infusion of sugar water (60 minutes at 90 degrees).
If there is any sugar syrup left over, you can use it for baking or cooking.
It is best to store the fruit in an airtight container.
If you like, you can cover the finished candied fruit with chocolate couverture.
Candied fruits are fruits, but extremely sugary and therefore high in calories. They should therefore not be eaten like normal fruit, but enjoyed in small quantities as sweets.
