This winter I tried making candied orange peel, and was so pleased with the results that when I finally got my hands on some Meyer lemons, it seemed silly to throw away all that perfectly tasty peel. Eat it as candy, use it to top cupcakes, mince and throw into recipes, there's never -ending uses for this stuff and besides, it's pretty darn tasty.
Ingredients:
6 Meyer lemons (about a pound)
2 cups water
2 1/4 cups sugar, divided
Score the lemons from top to bottom 4 equal sections, then run your thumb under the peel and pull each piece off in one go. It should be fairly easy. Slice the peels into strips about 1/4 inch thick.
Pour about 4 cups of cold water into a large saucepan and add the sliced peel. Bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the water boils, drain reserve the peels, discarding the water. Fill the pot again with 4 cups of cold water, add the peels, and wait until it boils again, draining one more time and repeating the process one final time. In total, you will bring the peels to a boil three times. This helps to get rid of any bitterness. When finished, set them aside to drain.
In a different pot, combine 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar over medium heat until the mixture comes to a simmer. Add the peels and cook between 30 and 45 minutes, until the peels are soft and translucent. Drain well. You can keep the simple syrup aside in the fridge for adding to club soda, or tea. Toss the peels gently with the additional 1/4 cup of sugar.
Dry the peels in a single layer on a wire baking rack. Mine took quite a long time, but it should take about 12 hours or so. Store in a jar in the cupboard, where they should keep for about a month or so.
Makes one full 500ml jar
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