Mixed Peel

It's amazing how one little idea snowballs, isn't it? I decided to make mince pies this year for Christmas and decided that I wanted to reproduce the British-style mince I've eaten in London. So I went looking for appropriate recipes, all of which called for "mixed peel." So I knew mixed peel had to be candied citrus peel and I figured out that most people buy it ready-made, but it's thin on the ground here in Williamsburg, so I thought I'd just make my own. After some investigating I found some simple-looking instructions:

I used one grapefruit, one orange, one lime and two lemons. Getting the pith out of the grapefruit peel was pretty difficult and I must admit I did a pretty half-hearted job of it. I had better luck with the other fruits, and ended up with a nice pile of citrus strips.

The instructions said to simmer the strips in water until tender. This was a bit vague, as I really had no sense of what "tender" in this context meant. (I had also read that when making candied oranges you should leave the pith and blanch in boiling water three times to remove bitterness.) I compromised, letting the citrus peels simmer for about five minutes before removing them from the hot water.

Next up is the bit where you candy them by making a sugar syrup (one cup of water to one cup of sugar) and let them simmer, covered, in the syrup until they are translucent.

The instructions finished up with this step: "Drain, cool, and store in the refrigerator." Let me just say that this is also a bit vague. What they should have said was, "Using tongs, remove the peel and place on a sheet of parchment paper to cool so that you do not end up with a big sticky lump of candied peel in a colander. Once they are cool (and not so sticky), pop them into a clean jar and store in the refrigerator."

So there you have it... the first step in making my Christmas Mince all done.

Comments

[ZenChef]

Oh, will you be sharing your recipe for mince pie ...pleasaase? I have tried several recipes and while the results were okay it wasn't authentic enough for my taste. I bet those candied citrus peel are delicious!

[shauna]

These look fantastic. Could I have some now, please?

[Rachael]

OOH! Excellent! Mince is the best!

I make candied peel often, and use it to garnish things...I just simmer the zest strips in boiling 1:1 ratio water/sugar. (Same as your recipe, I see)

Then, when they are quite soft (5 min?) I fish them out (CAREFULLY) and toss into a jar of sugar. I fish them out a few days later, brush off the excess, and viola, candied peel. And lovely citrus sugar. :-)

[myfrenchkitchen]

I can't remember the last them I'v had mince pies. Your peel is going to be wonderful...I always hated it when there were these hard pieces in the mince, almost breaking your teeth. Now I'm only waiting to see your mince pies...?
Ronell

[Adele]

I'm impressed - that peel looks lovely. If you have any left over after the mince pies, it makes for a nice treat to nibble on when dipped in dark chocolate.

[Ann]

Zenchef, you bet your life I will... just gimme a few days!

shauna, so nice to see you here again! I'm off to see what you've been up to now that you're back in the kitchen again...

Rachel, I am having great difficulty not eating them... so I'll try your method SOON!

Ronell, I have to make the mince first! :-)

Adele, the issue is making sure there will enough left over for the mince! They're hard to resist...

[african vanielje]

Ann, we seem to be challenging each other because I have also just posted on mincemeat and candied peel. It is so satisfying, not to mention delicious to make your own, isn't it? I also love the pics of Ronell's kitchen. It could be mine except that my wall's (some of them) are raspberry (I couldn't resist the name). I am very jealous of her atelier, although I admit to not having the talent necessary to get full use out of one.

[african vanielje]

Ann, that was meant to read channelling each other. Not a freudian slip, really, I always think the more recipes you have the better able you are to find what works for you.

[african vanielje]

PS. Your peel looks gorgeous. I love the different colours.

[Ann]

Inge... I knew you meant channeling :-) And I KNEW I'd seen a post on candied peel recently but I could NOT remember where. If only I'd remembered it was you I could have gotten some advice. Now where is this mince post of yours?

[african vanielje]

Ann, it's on my cookbook (VKCB) page. Enjoy

[Ann]

Inge, thanks!

And maybe I could profile your kitchen next? Like after the holidays? :-)

[Bev]

when we make our mincemeat for Christmas we add dried cranberries and grated apple, it really adds to the flavour, but make sure you put brandy in the mince meat if you add grated apple. yum, let us see your mincemeat! yummy x

[Susan]

Last year I cooked and baked the full English Xmas w/ mincemeat pie. I loved the pie, but would love it more if I had cured the peel from scratch. The packaged peel is OK, but it has preservatives and coloring agents. Lovely idea.

[ann]

That last step is how I feel about most recipes for fresh pasta. They say, "Set aside to dry" but mine never dry, they always stick together and form a gigundo pasta lump. Very frustrating! But these sound delicious. Congrats!

[Nora]

Hi Ann,
Thanks for dropping by my blog! It's always nice to "see" new bloggers. :-)

Home-made citrus peels is so much better than store-bought. Looks like you made lovely ones despite the vague instructions. I've made a big batch before and put them in cute bottles as gifts. Another time, I needed it for an Italian Ricotta pie and wrote about candied lemon peel here:
http://lifesmorgasbord.blogspot.com/
2007/06/zesty-torta-di-ricotta.html

Nora

[Ann]

Bev, funny you should mention dried cranberries! I did add some because I had them in the cupboard and it just seemed like a good idea. :-)

Susan, there is just something really satisfying about making each component of a dish yourself, no?

ann, I hate recipes that assume things are obvious and therefore fail to mention them. I'd rather have too much information.

Nora, thanks for dropping by! I'm on my way to read your posts now...

[*]

Do I really have to boil the peel? I dried some raw chopped and dried peel and, it came out deliciously in my Barm Brack. I will try your method though.