Ready for Dessert (46 page)

After the third draining, return the ginger to the saucepan and attach a candy thermometer to the side. Add the 3 cups (750 ml) water, 3 cups (600 g) sugar, salt, and corn syrup, if using, and cook until the liquid reaches 225°F (110°C). Remove from the heat and let the ginger rest in the syrup for 1 hour.

Place the ginger slices in a strainer and stir a few times to make sure as much syrup drips off as possible. (If you wish, save the syrup for another use, such as for sweetening lemonade or mixing with sparkling water and fresh lime juice.) Spread the ginger slices out on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and allow to dry for 2 to 3 hours.

Spread the remaining 1 cup (200 g) sugar on a baking sheet. Place the ginger slices in the sugar and toss with your fingers to separate the pieces and coat them well with sugar. Lift out the slices and shake off the excess sugar with your hands or place them in a colander and shake well. Set the sugar-coated ginger slices on the wire rack and let dry overnight at room temperature.

STORAGE:
The candied ginger will keep in an airtight container for up to 6 months. The ginger can also be left in its syrup, without draining and tossing in sugar, and kept for a similar length of time in the refrigerator.

MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP (240 G)

Thin strips of soft-candied citrus peel enliven the flavor of desserts and look beautiful as garnishes for cakes, fruit compotes, sherbets, custards, and, especially,
Champagne Gelée
. Although it’s convenient to have a jar on hand to use on a whim, they’re quick and easy to make.

5 lemons, oranges, or limes (preferably organic), washed

2 cups (500 ml) water

1 cup (200 g) sugar

1 tablespoon light corn syrup (optional;
see Tip
)

Using a sharp vegetable peeler and working from pole to pole, remove the zest from the citrus fruits in strips about 1 inch (3 cm) wide. Try to remove only the colored portion of the rind and leave the bitter white pith on the fruit. (If you’ve peeled too deeply, you can lay the strips flat on a counter, pith side up, and carefully trim away the pith with a knife.) Using a sharp knife, cut the strips of zest lengthwise into pieces about as narrow as a wooden match.

Put the peel in a medium saucepan and add water to generously cover. Bring to a boil and cook until the peel is soft and translucent, 5 to 6 minutes.

Drain the peel and discard the water. In the same saucepan, bring the 2 cups water, sugar, and corn syrup, if using, to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the drained peel, decrease the heat to maintain a gentle boil, and cook until the peel is translucent and the syrup is thick, about 20 minutes.

If you like, you can use a candy thermometer to gauge doneness; the mixture should register about 210°F (100°C).

Let cool, then transfer the peel and syrup to a clean jar, cover tightly, and refrigerate until ready to use.

STORAGE:
The peel will keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 months. If you don’t use the corn syrup, it might recrystallize. If it does, warm it slowly, adding a little water if necessary, to untangle the pieces.

MAKES ABOUT 1 POUND (450 G)

There’s no reason to ever buy candied orange peel since it’s so much better when you make it at home. I can’t bear throwing away anything remotely edible, so when I have rinds left over from juicing oranges or tangerines for sorbet, I always make a batch of candied peels and serve them alongside.

Finely chopped bits of candied orange peel enliven a batch of cookies like
Gingersnaps
and add an unexpected, but delicious, twist when tossed into a fruit dessert such as
Apple-Blackberry Crisp
. This candied orange peel is thicker and more substantial than
Soft-Candied Citrus Peel
. In addition to being used an an ingredient or garnish, it can be enjoyed on its own as a confection.

10 oranges, preferably organic, washed

3 cups (750 ml) water

4½ cups (900 g) sugar, plus 1½ cups (300 g) for coating the strips of peel

2 tablespoons (30 ml) light corn syrup (optional;
see Tip
)

Halve and juice the oranges. Reserve the juice for another use and put the orange rinds in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add water to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer until the rinds are tender, 30 minutes to 1 hour. How long this will take depends on the thickness of the rinds, so start checking them after 30 minutes to make sure they’re not overcooking and turning mushy. To check for doneness, pluck one out and let it cool a minute; the rinds are cooked when you can easily scrape away most of the inner white pith with a spoon or a knife.

Drain the rinds, and when cool enough to handle, cut each piece in half. Using a spoon or paring knife, scrape or cut away the inner white pith. Cut the rinds into strips ¼ inch (6 mm) wide.

In a large saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, combine the 3 cups (750 ml) water, 4½ cups (900 g) sugar, and the corn syrup, if using. Bring to a boil, then add the strips of orange peel and cook over medium heat until the temperature reaches 225°F (110°C) and the peel turns translucent.

Place the candied peel in a strainer and stir a few times to make sure as much syrup drips off as possible. Spread the strips out on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and allow to dry for 2 to 3 hours.

Spread the remaining 1½ cups (300 g) sugar on a baking sheet. Place the orange peel strips in the sugar and toss with your fingers to separate the pieces and coat them well with sugar. Lift out the strips and shake off the excess sugar with your hands or place them in a colander and shake well. Set the sugar-coated strips on the wire rack and let dry overnight at room temperature.

STORAGE:
The candied peel will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

VARIATIONS:
You can substitute tangerines for the oranges. Note that the initial cooking time might be shorter because tangerine peels tend to be thinner. Lemon rinds can be candied this way, too.

MAKES ABOUT 5 CUPS (1.6 KG)

I make this marmalade in the dead of winter whenever my collection of confitures is running low, since, happily, good pineapple is always available. One pineapple yields a lot of jam—another thing to be happy about.

The best way to judge if a pineapple is truly ripe is to take a whiff. If the fruit is ripe, it will smell strong and sweet and the flesh will be sweet, too. Using the old wives’ tale method of plucking a leaf from the top just means you’re going to get strange looks from the people in the produce department. And if you do it in France, where I live, you might even be reprimanded.

1 large pineapple, peeled, eyes removed, cored, and quartered

1 navel orange, preferably organic

10 cups (2.5 liters) water

5 cups (1 kg) sugar

6 tablespoons (3 ounces/85 g) chopped
Candied Ginger

1 tablespoon dark rum

Cut the pineapple into ¼- to ½-inch (6-mm to 1.5-cm) cubes. Cut the orange, unpeeled, into quarters. Slice each quarter as thinly as possible, then chop the slices into ¼-inch (6-mm) bits.

Put the chopped pineapple and orange in a large pot or a Dutch oven. Add the water, bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.

To finish the marmalade, add the sugar to the pineapple mixture, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until the mixture reaches the jelling point (use the wrinkle test, right, to judge when it’s done).

Stir in the candied ginger and rum, then ladle the marmalade into clean jars. Cover tightly, let cool, and refrigerate.

STORAGE:
The marmalade will keep for at least 6 months in the refrigerator.

MAKES 8 CUPS (2 KG)

After making many, many pots of Seville orange marmalade and spending countless hours plucking out the overabundance of seeds (the seeds provide the pectin so that the marmalade will set), I figured out a great trick for preparing the oranges quickly: Place a mesh strainer over a small bowl. Halve the oranges and firmly squeeze out their juice and seeds into the strainer. Add the juice to the marmalade pot and wrap the seeds in cheesecloth so that they can be easily retrieved after cooking. A sharp serrated knife works very well for slicing the oranges very thinly.

6 Seville oranges or other sour oranges (2 pounds/1 kg total weight), preferably organic

1 navel orange, preferably organic

10 cups (2.5 liters) water

Pinch of salt

8 cups (1.6 kg) sugar

2 tablespoons (30 ml) Cognac or whiskey

Halve the Seville and navel oranges and squeeze out the juice and seeds from each half into a mesh strainer set over a small bowl. After all the oranges have been squeezed, place the seeds on a piece of cheesecloth, gather up the sides, and tie securely. Cut each rind in half and then slice as thinly as possible.

Put the orange slices in a large pot or a Dutch oven. Add the orange juice, water, the bag of seeds, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, stir in the sugar and set the pot over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture is not burning on the bottom, until the marmalade reaches the jelling point (use the
wrinkle test
to judge when it’s done). If white scum occasionally rises to the top, skim it off with a large spoon.

Stir in the Cognac or whiskey and remove the bag of seeds, squeezing it with a pair of tongs to extract as much marmalade from it as possible. Ladle the marmalade into clean jars. Cover tightly, let cool, and refrigerate.

STORAGE:
The marmalade will keep for at least 6 months in the refrigerator.