Learn how to make the most of your citrus with our homemade mixed peel recipe.
Want to try our homemade mixed peel recipe? Candied citrus peel is an essential ingredient for many festive treats like mince pies, plum pudding, Italian panettone and Danish brunkager.
It’s a handy ingredient year round too – we love it in sourdough Hot Cross Buns and their cousin the Clementine.
Homemade mixed peel is much nicer than the shop bought stuff. If you’ve ever been put off by something with “peel” in it, give homemade a try. You can attune the taste to your own palette and dial up the bitterness or sourness as you please.
But not only does it taste great. Homemade mixed peel is also a zero-waste hack!
That’s because it uses up the part of the fruit that is least desirable to compost bins and worm farms: the thick, oil-rich peel.
When you make your own homemade candied peel you get to keep the juicy flesh of your citrus (to eat, juice or basically do with what you please!) And then on top of that you get a batch of candied peel to last you through the year.
This mixed peel recipe is really a breeze. Many of the more traditional techniques involve chopping peel into itty-bitty pieces, filleting off tough piths and air drying for days (no joke).
Our preferred method is much simpler. You can whip up a batch ready to use in an afternoon, while it’s also well suited to bottling, water-bathing and keeping in your larder for up to a year.
Our recipe doesn’t call for a specific quantity of any one citrus. That’s because we think it’s best to use what you have, as well as adjust the recipe to suit your taste. But, the key word here is “mixed”. A mix of fruits will give you a more balanced flavour. Here’s what each fruit brings to the table:
- Grapefruit, pomelo and Seville oranges add bitterness
- Table oranges and mandarins add sweetness
- Lemon and lime add sourness
So ideally you don’t want a whole batch of grapefruit peel (as this will be overpoweringly bitter) but a little gives you a more complex flavour. Likewise a little lime goes a long way, while we find oranges and lemons are less overpowering.
So, here is how you make your own homemade mixed peel…
Ingredients:
- 1.25g of mixed citrus peels (juiced, but pulp and pith still on)
- 1kg sugar
- 1kg water
Method:
Quarter peels and add to a large pan with enough water that they float. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain, discard liquid and repeat this step twice more.
Allow peels to cool, then with a spoon or a paring knife scrape them free of pulp and pith (they will be softened now and very easy to scrape clean). Try to remove as much of the white pith/membrane as possible. You will end up with approximately 500g of peels. Compost the pulp and pith.
Dissolve sugar in equal weight of water over a medium heat. Add peels and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered for 45 minutes or until peels are translucent. Pour hot syrup and peels into clean preserving jars, then process in a water bath or Fowlers Vacola machine for 75 minutes (or as per instructions on your machine).
Properly vaccuum sealed jars will last at least a year stored in a cool dry place.
