Homemade All Natural Candied Fruit Recipe
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Background Information
Most people often wonder why the candy that is made from this recipe is called fruit meat candy or candied fruits. The reference to meat refers to the edible portion of fruit that are succulent. This recipe uses the remnants of the fruit that is contained on the rinds and through a special process removes the bad tasting portion of these normally inedible portion of fruit. After the solid portion, or meat, from the fruit has been refined it can then be used to make candy.
This recipe may be used for any kind of leftover fruit such as citrus peels, watermelon rinds, cucumber meat, thinly sliced fruit, or even the meat of the aloe plant. However, caution should be used when using aloe as it will still retain its laxative properties. It is great way to use the last pieces of fruit that are left on the rind after children and other family members eat fruit such as cantaloupes. This recipe focuses on the use of the fruit meats to make candy; however, there is also information contained below the main recipe that explains how the rinds can be used to make candied fruits too.
This recipe can be used many different kinds of fruits and is great because of its versatility and ability to be adapted. It can be used to preserve remnants of uneaten fruit that was left in the refrigerator. The resulting candy that is made from this recipe can be store for up to a month and sometimes even longer. Plus, the candy makes for a nice homemade treat for families and contains only simple ingredients.
The fruit meat candy recipe and the subsequent information on making candied fruits and flavored syrups can also be used with a variety of common flowers and herbs such as rose, mint, marigold, calamus root, or other flavorful edibles. If you are looking for more color, the candy can also be colored using natural dyes such as beet juice, turmeric, and even cochineal.
Basic Ingredients
- Fruit Meats
- Water
- Natural Sweetener (Sugar)
Quantity of Ingredients
The amount of ingredients required varies based on preference. A minimum of 2 cups of uncooked fruit meats are recommended per batch of candy. The sweet bath requires a combination of one part sweetener and two parts water.
Instructions for Making the Candy
- Cut the fruit meats into small thin pieces.
- Prepare the meat of the fruit by boiling it in pot of water to remove the bitters. The skin of the aloe, the green of the watermelon, and the white of the citrus peel are all considered as part of the bitters. These have an unpleasant taste that you do not want to have in your candy.
- Remove and strain the fruit meat from the water. You will need to be careful and make sure that all of the bitters have been removed.
- Place the strained fruit meats into a sweet bath and allow the mixture to boil. The fruit meats should be fully covered by the sweet bath. To prepare the sweet bath, you will need to use a ratio of two parts of a sweet component to one part boiling water. For a sweetener you can use beet sugar, cane sugar, honey, palm sugar, or even maple syrup. Preferably, the sweet component should be a natural sugar of some kind and you can experiment with using granular and liquid forms of sweetener to comply with your family’s preferences. Do not use artificial sweeteners as they are unable to crystallize during the candying process.
- OPTIONAL: To the sweet bath, you can add additional complimentary natural herbs and spices to flavor the candy such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, or mint.
- Important! Stir the mixture.Do not let the hot candy mixture burn to the bottom of your pan and result in an unpleasant tasting final product.
- Continue boiling the mixture until crystals begin to form.Cook the candy mixture to a hard crack stage which is approximately 300 degrees Fahrenheit or 150 degress Celsius.
- Pour the hot candy mixture onto a candy rack or flat pan and allow it to cool.
- OPTIONAL: If desired, once the candy has cooled completely, it can be broken, or cracked, into smaller bite-sized pieces that can be stored.
- Once the candy has dried, it will need to be packaged and stored in a temperature controled environment with sufficiently low humidity. To prevent the candy from becoming gooey or sticky, place it in a plastic baggy and then safely store the candy bag in your kitchen pantry.
Candy Thermometer
Common Candy Problems
If the candy that you made appears to be too sticky after it has cooled, or the crystals never formed during after boiling the mixture, this means that the candy did not reach the proper temperature required to crystallize. The candy mixture must be boiled to remove the excess watery liquid and after this has occurred the temperature of the mixture will be able to reach the hard crack stage that is required. If you have never made candy before, this can be a bit tricky; however, once you know what to look for the process is much easier. Many people prefer to use a candy making thermometer to make sure that the candy reached the proper temperature that is required.
Candy Recipe Alternatives
There are many different ways to modify this recipe for your own personal use. Examples below demonstrate how you can make candied fruit peels and simple syrups using the basic ingredients and techniques provided by this dynamic recipe.
Making Candied Fruit Peels
If you have fruit rinds that are leftover, the you can use a similar proess to make candied peels or rinds. Citrus and other similar fruit peels make excellent candied peels. The peels must be cleaned of their bitters by briefly boiling them until the bitters have been successfully removed. Then, the peels are strained and again boiled in the same type of sweet bath used during the meat candy process. The peels are strained and left to cool. Finally, the peels are tossed in granulated sugar and left to dry on a candy rack.
Making a Flavored Simple Syrup
In this process of making candied fruit peels, the remaining sweet bath is left as a byproduct and can be further boiled down and made into a flavored simple syrup. The syrup can then be used for a myriad of different cooking purposes or as a beverage sweetener.
Learn More About Making Your Own Candy at Home
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