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Lemon Peel, to Candy
Choose sound fresh lemons, cut them into quarters lengthwise, remove the pulp entirely, and put the pieces of rind into salt and water for three days, and afterwards into cold water for a day. Boil them in fresh cold water until they are tender. Drain them, and cover them with their syrup, made in the proportion of a pound of sugar to every quart of lemon-juice pressed from the pulp. When they look clear, which will be in half an hour, drain them again, make a thick syrup, allowing for this a pound of sugar to every pint of water, put them in, and boil over a slow fire until the syrup candies. Take out the lemons, drain them, and dry them in a cool oven. Store in a cool, dry place. Probable cost of lemons, 1d. each.
A two-stage candying method: a long salt cure to draw out bitterness, then two syrups of increasing density. The hinge is the second syrup — take it off the heat when it thickens and begins to crystallise on the peel, not before and not after.
- The salt soak is not optionalThe salt soak matters -- Three days in brine followed by a day in fresh cold water draws the bitterness out of the white pith. Peel candied without any such treatment is likely to taste sharply bitter, though repeated blanching in fresh water achieves much the same end. Change the fresh water two or three times on the final day.
- Boil until genuinely tenderThe peel must be soft enough to pierce with no resistance before it meets sugar — usually 30-45 minutes at a bare simmer. Sugar sets the texture, so peel that goes in tough stays tough.
- The first syrup is impractical as writtenThe first syrup is a proportion, not a fixed quantity -- a pound of sugar to every quart of juice pressed from the pulp. A full quart would take something like thirty lemons, far more than the fruit peeled here will yield, so scale the ratio down to the juice you actually have, or make up the volume with water.
- Second syrup proportionsOne pound of sugar to one pint of water is the heavier of the two syrups, roughly 2¼ cups sugar to 2½ cups water. "Boil until the syrup candies" means cooking it to around soft-ball stage, in the region of 235-240F, when it clouds and begins to grain on the spoon.
- A cool ovenTake this as 200F or lower, or the very lowest setting with the door propped ajar. The aim is to dry the surface over several hours, not to colour the peel.
- Slow fireOn a modern hob this is low heat with the pan uncovered. Rapid boiling drives the syrup past the candying point and scorches the sugar against the peel.
- Yield and keepingThe book gives no quantity of fruit and no yield; a handful of lemons produces only a small quantity of finished peel. Once thoroughly dry it keeps months in an airtight jar; any tackiness means it needs more time in the oven, and damp peel will mould.
- UsesChop it for cakes, puddings and mincemeat, or leave the quarters whole and dust them with caster sugar as a sweetmeat. The drained syrups are worth keeping for glazing or for drinks.
Candying was preservation before it was confectionery: sugar drives water out of the fruit and keeps it sound through a winter, and lemon peel -- costly, aromatic, and useless once the juice was gone -- was an obvious candidate. English kitchens had been sugaring citrus rind since imported lemons and oranges became more widely available in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The costing at the end -- a penny a lemon -- is characteristic of Cassell's, which priced most entries so a mistress or cook could reckon a dish against the housekeeping book. The sequence itself -- brine, blanch, light syrup, heavy syrup, dry -- applies equally to angelica, orange rind and green ginger.