These candied orange slices come from our food contributor, Christina Evert of Abuelita Eats! With a focus on vegetarian and pescatarian recipes, Christina shares her cooking adventures on her Instagram, @abuelitaeats, showing how easy and tasty it can be to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet via her simple yet scrumptious meals and snacks. 

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Sumo citrus is known for it’s sweet, juicy flavor–and the wonderful fact that it doesn’t contain seeds (and is easy to peel)! With summer here, there’s no better time to enjoy this Insta-famous, extra large fruit, a hybrid cross between a mandarin and a California naval orange. This recipe will walk you through the basics of candied fruit: I chose to make candied orange and lemon slices but you can really swap in any citrus you’d like for a little variety. Lemons maintain a great sweet-and-sour punch and the Sumos will make you realize why we call fruit nature’s candy.

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These sugared orange slices and lemon slices are a labor of love, but this recipe results in such a beautiful treat that can be used to garnish cakes, glasses of lemonade, or cocktails. Another option: Just eat them as they are and enjoy the sweet beginnings of a sunnier season!

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Hope you love these sweet citrus slices–Enjoy and happy summer!

XX

Christina

  • PREP TIME: 45 MINS
  • SERVES: 4
  • candied orange slices recipe: sumo citrus fruit and lemons

Ingredients

Ingredients:

3 Sumo Citrus oranges

3 Meyer Lemons

1 cup of sugar

2 cups of water

Ice

More sugar for finishing

Directions

Step 1:

Thinly slice all of your sumo citrus and remove seeds from the lemons. I recommend slicing them out 1/4 – 1/8 of an inch thick–thinner slices will result in more delicate candied fruit, while thicker slices will take a bit longer to dry and turn out sweet and chewy!

Step 2:

Boil 2 cups of water, then submerge all of your slices in the hot water for about 1 minute before straining the fruit and moving it directly into an ice bath of water and ice cubes. This will blanch the fruit and remove any bitterness left in the peels. Reserve 1 cup of water from the pot you just boiled the citrus in–you will combine this with 1 cup of sugar in a large saucepan big enough to hold all of your fruit without overlapping slices.

 

Step 3:

Dissolve the sugar in your water and then bring your sugar-water to a simmer, layer your fruit slices evenly in the pan, and simmer until the rinds are translucent–it should take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the thickness of your slices, so keep an eye on it as you go!

Step 4:

Remove the candied fruit from the syrup (I saved this syrupy goodness because it takes on a lovely citrus flavor and has the consistency of honey: perfect for a cup of tea!) and place all of your slices on a drying rack or parchment paper for at least 6 hours.

Step 5:

When the fruit has dried but is still a little sticky to the touch, dust it with sugar for that gorgeous crystalized effect and you’re all finished!