Candied Orange or Lemon Peel - A Recipe

So Good!

In fruit cake or dipped in chocolate or just eaten as is! 

I made a fruit cake for the Christmas holidays - nope, not even one picture was taken before it was sliced and eaten!  Darn me!

But the fruit cake recipe called for a slice of orange peel???  Now what!  I scoured all my Louisiana cookbooks - found lots of ways to make jambalaya and gumbo....lots of recipes for pecan and sweet potato pies - and how to make a roux....boy did I learn everything I ever needed to know about making a roux.... and then.....eureka!  In one of my oldest cookbooks  - Looking at Cooking with Mildred Swift - there it was....the recipe.  Older.....local.....folks will certainly remember this cooking and gardening legend and probably have her cook book on the shelf.  If you do, pull it out to page 226.  And the uncooked fruit cake recipe is on page 155. 

Candied Orange Peel

Peel of 6 oranges (or lemons) (or a grapefruit)
1 tablespoon salt
4 cups water
3 cups sugar
hot water

I only used one orange and one lemon, so I cut the other ingredients proportionately.....

Cover peel with salt and water.  Weight down with plate.  Let stand over night.  Drain and wash.  Cover with cold water. Bring to boiling point.  Repeat this rinse and raise to boil point 3 times, changing water each time.  Cut peel in 1/4 inch strips with scissors.  Add sugar and hot water.  Cook slowly until peel is translucent.  It takes a while!  Drain.  Roll in granulated sugar and dry on a wire cake rack.