The candied peel is lovely to decorate and scatter through ice creams and sorbets. It is also very pretty on top of cakes.

INGREDIENTS

2 oranges, limes or lemons
300g caster or granulated sugar

METHOD

1. Cut the fruit in half and juice them. Put the juice to one side.
2. Cut each fruit half in half again and scrape out the pulp with a spoon. Scrape off some of the pith, but don’t remove it all as I think it adds to the flavour. Cut the peel into thin slices about 0.5 cm each.
3. Place the peel in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat, then remove from the heat and drain the water away. Repeat this for a total of three times and set the peel aside.
4. Mix the sugar in the pan with 135 ml water and stir over a high heat until the sugar has dissolved. Use a sugar thermometer and heat until the temperature reaches 110°C.
5. Lower the heat and add the citrus peel. You can remove the thermometer at this stage. Simmer for 30–90 minutes until the peel is all translucent.
6. Remove the peel from the syrup with a slotted spoon and place individually and spread out (not as a great heap), on a rack over a tray to dry.
7. Depending on the humidity peel can dry in a few hours or a few days, or you can put them in an oven on a very low temperature to hurry this up.
8. They can be partially dipped in chocolate or rolled in caster sugar.
9. Keep the syrup in a jar and use it as a substitute for sugar syrup when making sorbets: it is very sweet and tastes of the fruit.

From Ruby Violet’s Ice Cream Dream by Julie Fisher