Every year, when pumpkins ripen, I prepare delicious treats from this healthy vegetable - candied fruits.
They're easy to make, and they're delicious and aromatic. These natural, homemade candied fruits are much healthier than the brightly colored ones you can buy at the store or market, which are tinted with dyes—but you never know whether they're food-based or chemical.
The recipe for candied fruit is very simple. You'll need the following ingredients: 1 kg of pumpkin, 300 grams of sugar, one lemon, and one orange. If you don't have a lemon or orange, citric acid will do.
The pumpkin needs to be cut into wedges, peeled, and cut into small pieces.
Place in a large saucepan and sprinkle with sugar. Stir, using my hands, being careful not to bruise the pumpkin. This process is necessary to release the pumpkin's juices, and I immediately place it on the stove. I add a little water.
Some recipes recommend leaving the pumpkin and sugar overnight to release its juices. But in my experience, pumpkin pieces left in the juice for too long become soft and overcook when cooked.
When the pumpkin boils, reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.
During this time, cut the lemon and orange into slices, along with the peel, and remove the seeds.
Add to the pan with the pumpkin and stir gently. The acid from the citrus will prevent the pumpkin from overcooking.
I turn off the stove and leave the pan with the pumpkin on the stove until it cools completely. It continues to warm up for a while, soaking up the syrup.
Then, when the pumpkin has cooled completely, I turn the stove back on, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat again and let the pan cool. The cooled candied fruit, soaked in syrup, becomes translucent and looks delicious.
Now you need to put the candied fruits from the pan into a sieve and leave for a while so that all the syrup drains.
The syrup turns out thick, beautiful, honey-golden, aromatic, and can be added to tea.
I place pieces of candied pumpkin, as well as orange and lemon slices, on a baking sheet covered with cling film and put them in the oven.
I heat the candied fruits at a temperature of 70 °Leave the candied fruits for a few hours with the door slightly ajar. You can repeat the process again after a few hours, or remove the baking sheet from the oven and continue drying at room temperature, turning the candied fruits periodically.
You can dry candied fruit without an oven, right in your apartment. However, it will take a little longer this way. When the candied fruit is completely dry, it won't stick to your hands, the slices will be translucent and firm, and you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar or not.
I also made another batch of candied fruit, adding some wild apples and a little cinnamon to the pumpkin and oranges. These turned out darker in color.
I placed the finished candied fruits in a glass jar; they can be stored for a long time at room temperature in the cupboard.
But we don’t keep candied fruits for long; they get eaten very quickly.
The candied fruits turn out very tasty!
Thanks for the recipe.
I've never made candied pumpkin before. But I loved the idea; I'll definitely be making it this year. I've been reading a few of your posts for a while now, and I noticed that you recommend adding lemon or citric acid to keep the fruit from overcooking. I didn't know that, and I've never seen that before. Thanks for the tip.