Gaby
Candied fruits do double duty: they preserve summer’s vitamins for winter and make desserts look spectacular. Strawberries, cranberries, cherries, and raspberries work best coated in a light frost, while grapes, apples, pears, peaches, bananas, lemons, oranges, and mandarins can be candied for storage. You’ll need a fine sieve or spoon, a brush, and toothpicks for this process. The ingredient quantities are based on one kilogram of fruit—feel free to adjust the amounts as needed.
Fruity Frost
Ingredients: berries or fruit – 1 kg; eggs – 2; granulated sugar or powdered sugar – 200 g.
Wash and dry the berries or fruit. If they have stems, leave them on. If not, skewer the fruit with a toothpick, being careful not to bruise or damage it.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Discard the yolks; you won’t need them. Whisk the egg whites with a fork or whisk until they form a light foam.
Brush a thin layer of egg white onto the surface of the berries or fruit and let any excess drip off.
Sprinkle each berry or piece of fruit with granulated or powdered sugar using a spoon or a fine sieve (like a tea strainer). Powdered sugar creates a denser, matte frost. For a more striking decorative effect, mix powdered and granulated sugar.
Leave the sugared berries or fruit in a warm place for half an hour to dry. Once the “snow-covered” fruits have dried, use them to decorate desserts and serve them at the table.
Candied Fruits
Ingredients: fruits – 1 kg; sugar – 500 g; water for syrup – 360 ml (about 1.5 cups).
Candied fruit is made by replacing the fruit’s moisture with sugar syrup. To candy washed fruit or berries, cook them in sugar syrup—similar to making jam, but cook a bit longer to get a thicker syrup.
Prepare the fruits by cutting them into pieces and blanching them in boiling water. This step is optional but helps preserve color and partially breaks down the fibers.
First, prepare the syrup. Bring the water to a boil and add the sugar. Cook the syrup until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Next, add the prepared fruits or berries to the hot syrup and simmer over low heat until they become translucent.
After cooking, let the fruits or berries sit in the syrup for two hours. Pour the soaked fruit and syrup into a sieve or colander. Allow the syrup to drain—what remains in the sieve will be semi-transparent pieces of cooked fruit.
Arrange the syrup-soaked fruits in a single layer on a sieve and dry them in the oven at 40°C (104°F).
Coat the dried fruits with granulated sugar by shaking them gently to cover the entire surface. Dry the sugared fruits in the oven again.
Store the finished candied fruits in glass jars and seal them with lids to keep moisture out. Alternatively, store them in a sealed plastic bag.
Pro tip
Add spices or citric acid to the syrup for extra flavor. Pair different fruits together: apples with plums, cherries with pears, and so on. Use the leftover sugar and syrup from making the candied fruits to make compote or jam.
We also shared how to make pickled cherries.
