Gemma 
Welcome to Day 1 of Wedding Cake Weekend!
If you missed yesterday’s post, I recently made a wedding cake for a family friend and, this weekend, I’m sharing the recipes & all of the fun, summer-y details here on the blog!
This was only my second time making a wedding cake (check out my Wedding Cake Week series for the first time, where I made the cake for my brother’s big day!), so I am by no means a professional, but I’m so happy with how these cakes turned out and I can’t wait to share them with you!
We’re starting small with today’s post and focusing on the homemade candied orange peel decorations. These can be made way in advance (to minimise the inevitable, last-minute wedding stress) and make such a pretty, twinkle-y (and delicious) cake decoration. Plus, they’re surprisingly easy to make!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
You only need 4 ingredients to make these candied orange peels:
- An unwaxed orange
You only need the rind of the orange for this recipe, so feel free to make yourself a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice after you’ve made these candied peels! I recommend using an unwaxed orange for this recipe, seeing as you’ll be eating the rind.
- Caster sugar
The orange peels are gently cooked in a sugar syrup to candy them, so you’ll need sugar! It’s best to use caster sugar for this step, because it dissolves more quickly/easily than granulated sugar, but you can choose either golden or white sugar. I prefer to use white caster sugar here, because I think it maintains the vibrant, orange hue of the peels better.
- Water
Does water even count as an ingredient? Who knows… Either way, you need some water to make the sugar syrup.
- Granulated sugar
The candied peels are tossed in granulated sugar to give them a pretty, sparkly appearance and make them easier to handle (read: less sticky). I like to use golden granulated sugar for this, but you can use different types of sugar to achieve different finishes to your candied peels. Granulated sugar gives a sparser, crunchier and more sparkle-y appearance than caster sugar, which provides a denser, crispier coating to the peels. Using golden sugar means there’s less contrast between the shade of the candied peels and the sugar, which gives them a more subtle, twinkle-y vibe, while white sugar will give them a more noticeably ‘frosty’ look. All of this to say: it’s up to you! Pick your favourite, or just use what you have on hand: they’ll taste great whatever!
How to Make Candied Orange Peels
These orange peels are deceptively easy to make and go a long way: you don’t need many to add a touch of citrus decoration to your bakes! Having said that, you can easily scale up this recipe, just use more oranges and increase the amounts of sugar/water proportionally.
To make the candied peels, start by preparing the orange. Use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel all of the rind off the orange, aiming for long strips. I like to peel the orange vertically, from the stem down, so that all of my strips are a similar length.
Once you have all of your peelings ready, use a sharp knife to cut each one into very thin ribbons.
The next step is to boil the peels in water for a few minutes, to help remove some of the bitterness. Fill a small saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, then add the peels and allow them to simmer for 3 minutes.
After the peels have simmered, strain them and rinse them in cold water. While you’re there, rinse out the saucepan, ready for the sugar syrup.
For the sugar syrup, place the caster sugar and the water into the saucepan and set it over medium heat. You don’t want to stir the syrup, because this might make it crystallise. Just let it sit over the heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, keep the pan over the heat until the syrup comes to a steady boil.
At this point, add the drained, rinsed peels to the sugar syrup and turn the heat to low.
Allow the peels to cook in the syrup for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, strain the peels through a heatproof sieve, pressing down on them gently with the back of a spoon to remove any excess syrup. You can keep this syrup to use in orange-flavoured drinks, if you want! It will keep in the fridge for a few days days.
Place the golden granulated sugar (or the sugar of your choosing) into a bowl and add the strained, cooked peels.
Use two forks to toss the peels in the sugar, until the individual ribbons have separated out and each peel is well-coated in the sugar.
Remove the peels from the bowl and spread them out on a large baking tray, lined with baking paper. I usually do this with my hands, picking out the peels one at a time (they should be much cooler at this point, but make sure to check first so you don’t burn yourself!), so that I can really separate them out, but, if you’re in a rush, you can shake the whole lot through a clean, dry sieve, to remove all of the excess sugar.
Set the baking tray aside in a cool, dry place overnight, to dry out completely before using to decorate your cake/bake (or just snacking on them, because they’re pretty tasty!).
Storing the Candied Orange Peels
These candied orange peels can be made way in advance, which is perfect for minimising any last-minute event/wedding stress!
After the peels have dried out overnight, just transfer them to an airtight container and store them in a cool, dry place. Like this, they’ll keep for 6-8 weeks, so you can get way ahead with your prep!
Recipe
Candied Orange Peel
Ingredients
- 1 unwaxed orange
- 100 g white caster sugar (see Note 1).
- 100 ml water
- 50 g golden granulated sugar (see Note 2).
Instructions
- Start by preparing the orange. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the rind off the orange in long strips. Then, use a large, sharp knife to cut the peelings into very thin ribbons.
- Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, then add the orange peel strips and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Drain the orange peels through a heatproof sieve and rinse thoroughly in cold water. Set the peels aside and wash out the saucepan.
- Place the white caster sugar and the water into the saucepan. Set over medium heat and allow the sugar to dissolve (do not stir at this stage, or the syrup might crystallise).
- Once all of the sugar has dissolved, bring the syrup to a steady boil, then add the drained orange peels to the pan. Turn the heat down to low and cook the peels in the syrup for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, pass the peels through the heatproof sieve to remove the syrup (you can reserve this orange syrup to use in drinks later!).
- Transfer the drained peels to a bowl containing the granulated sugar and toss with two forks until all of the peels are coated.
- Remove the peels from the sugar bowl (you can pick them out individually or use a dry sieve to shake away the excess sugar). The excess sugar can now be discarded (or, like the syrup, used for some orange-y drinks).
- Spread the peels out on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper, making sure they are in a single layer. Set them aside in a cool, dry place, overnight to dry out, then transfer them to an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place until ready to use/serve. The peels can be stored like this for 6-8 weeks.
Notes
- I like to use white caster sugar for the syrup, because I find that it helps to preserve the vibrant, orange hue of the peels, but you can use golden caster sugar if that’s what you have on hand. I would recommend using caster sugar for this stage, because it dissolves more quickly/easily than granulated.
- I like to use golden granulated sugar for tossing the candied peels in, because I think it gives a pretty, twinkle-y effect, but you can use whatever sugar you have on hand/prefer. White sugar will gives a slightly frostier effect, while caster/finer sugar will give a crispier, denser coating.ย
