How to Make Candied Fruit

Candied fruit is a unique treat that doesn’t get appreciated as much as it used to. It’s natural, delicious, and makes a beautiful garnish for desserts. It’s a lovely way to capture the natural, unprocessed flavor of fruit simply and with little effort. Whether you’re topping a cake, or looking for a unique texture for a dessert, candied fruit is a skill you’re sure to use again and again.

I need candied cherries, pineapple, and orange and lemon zest for my fruitcake this year, so here’s how I made mine. It’s remarkably simple. 

HOW TO MAKE IT BASICS

I use the recipe from King Arthur as the base for mine. It’s made for cherries, so I’ll start with that, but it works for most other fruits as well. All you need is a jar of maraschino cherries and sugar. Combine the sugar and syrup from the jar in a saucepan over low to medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. 

You may notice my cherries are darker than those neon red cheap cherries you’re probably used to seeing. That’s because I used Luxardo Maraschino cherries. They’re so much better, and healthier. They’re also a ton more expensive, and it’s a little crazy to use them in a cake, but they’re totally worth it. If you want to know why, click here for my rant about quality maraschino cherries. 

The syrup from Luxardos, as well as most other quality brand maraschinos, is much thicker than the cheap kind, so you may need to add a splash of water to get things going. Add your cherries and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid for about 45 minutes. 

Higher quality cherries are often already lightly candied, compared to the cheap ones, so be aware they probably won’t take as long to candy. Mine only took about 30 minutes. The easiest way to tell they’re done is when the syrup reaches soft ball stage, around  235°. The cherries will also get a little wrinkly, and it’s hard to tell with the darker cherries, but they take on a glassy, almost translucent look. 

Remove them from the heat, and immediately strain them from the syrup and lay them on something they won’t stick to like a greased cookie sheet or, my favorite, a Silpat, to cool. 

And whatever you do, don’t toss the cherry syrup. It’s my favorite part about making candied fruit - you get fruit flavored caramel sauce at the end, too. It’s delicious for so so many things. My favorite for the cherry flavor is to drizzle it over ice cream, but use your imagination. It’s wonderful for so many things. 

The process is exactly the same as cherries, but you’ll use canned pineapple and the pineapple juice from the can. I prefer juice, not syrup, but you could technically use either one. There’s already plenty of sugar in the recipe, though, so I use juice for more flavor. 

Once again, dissolve the juice and sugar over low to medium heat, thin, add your fruit and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Pineapple might take a bit longer, so don’t worry if it does, just keep going until softball stage. Lay the candied pineapple out to dry, again on a nonstick surface, and make sure you save all that pineapple syrup. 

My favorite use for the pineapple syrup is cocktails. It’s such a unique flavor to add to so many drinks. 

CITRUS ZEST FOR A TWIST

And now for the zest. I am making orange and lemon zest. For the zest, there are lots of ways to peel it. Many cooks use the inner white part of the peel, and that’s fine, but if you do, you have to boil and strain it several minutes or it comes out too bitter, so I like to save myself the extra steps by peeling only the outer colored layer, and leaving behind as much of the white pith as possible. It takes a bit more technique in the peel, but the end result has more flavor and color, so I think it’s worth it. 

Use the same technique and recipe as the cherries, but use water instead of syrup or juice. Orange zest will probably take a few minutes longer, so go the full 45 minutes, but with the lemon zest, start checking at 30 minutes. 

Don’t worry about looking for softball stage, or any particular temperature with zest. It’s done when it’s curling at the edges, the color shifts from bright to a more earthy tone, and it takes on a slightly glassy appearance. 

Same as the cherries and pineapple, lay it out on a nonstick surface to dry, but zest you’re going to toss it with sugar until coated. And once more, be sure to keep the syrup. My favorite way to use the citrus, flavored syrup is iced tea, but as with the cherry and pineapple, you’re only limited by your imagination. 

NOW TO DECIDE HOW YOU’LL USE IT!

So, I’m all done with what I need for my fruitcake, but you can candy to many fruits, so have fun with your favorites, and be sure to let me know what you try, and please share how you creatively use your yummy syrups.