Candied Lime and Clementine Peels

I realized that if I wanted to candy citrus peels for my Epiphany breads, I needed to do it tonight. I vacillated between candying the peels and saying 'screw it', thinking that maybe 2012 is the year that I learn to say no, just no. But my flirtation with idleness was brief and less than 5 minutes after the thought flitted through my mind, I was in the kitchen peeling the limes.

I have never had any luck with measurements for this, so here's the basic procedure, or rather, what worked for me: take the peel of your citrus and place them in a pot, covered with cold water, bring them to a boil. As soon as they boil, remove from heat and drain. Repeat two more times.

Place sugar and water in a pot to make a syrup, using more water than you think you'd need, because you are going to simmer it down. As it starts to thicken, place the blanched peels in the syrup and simmer till the peels become translucent. For me, that took almost 90 minutes.

Let the peel cool, completely in the syrup. Remove the peels from the syrup and place them on a piece of parchment paper or foil, letting the excess syrup run off. Then roll the candied skins in granulated sugar. With the first roll, the sugar will absorb the syrup and your peels will still be fairly vibrant. Roll them in sugar again to get that frosted look. Use as a garnish or chopped into recipes that require candied citrus.

I'll be using these in a version or two of bread for Epiphany. Stay tuned...