[Sca-cooks] Candied Orange Peel

[Stefan li Rous]

Helena asked:

<<< I have received a lovely package of fruit through the mail from  
my parents
and the oranges are so bright and beautiful, I can't help thinking of
candying the peels as a treat.

I have some tiny cookie cutters (say 1/2 to 3/8 inch across) and I was
thinking of cutting the peel into shapes for decorative purposes.  Is  
this
best done before or during or after the boiling process? >>>

Before. Either way I don't think this is going to be easy. As someone  
else mentioned one of the important things is going to be getting as  
much of the pith (the white fuzzy stuff) off as possible. I'm not  
sure if boiling the peel first will help get off the pith or make it  
more difficult.

It will be like cutting thin leather. I'm not sure how evenly the  
cutters will work. Strips are often down because they can be skimmed  
off with a peeler. You might do best by clearing the pith off of some  
inch by inch or larger pieces and then cutting the final shapes out  
of this with some kitchen scissors. It sounds like these would make  
great decorations on cookies or cakes. And since if you keep them dry  
they will last a long time, you don't have to use them immediately.

For more info on candied peels in general, although probably not this  
question, although there may be some info on peeling and cleaning the  
peels, see these files:

candied-peels-art (16K)  3/21/06    "Candied Fruit Peel" by Dame Alys  
Katharine.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/candied-peels-art.html
candied-peels-msg (52K)  6/19/04    Candied fruit peels. A late  
period treat.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/candied-peels-msg.html

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****