How to make candied peels from watermelon peels: the simplest recipes

In the season of selling watermelons, many families willingly delight themselves with these juicy fruits, but after them a lot of hard crusts remain. The simplest and tastiest thing you can turn them into is sweet candied fruits. They taste like candy or marmalade, but they consist of natural raw materials and do not contain harmful additives.

Preparation of crusts for cooking candied fruits

Start cooking candied fruits by preparing the main ingredient. Take a watermelon with a thick crust as a basis and follow this algorithm:

1. Cut off the green rind and pulp from the crusts.
2. Cover them with cold water and soak for 2-3 hours.
3. Rinse the raw materials well, let the liquid drain and spread the product on a waffle towel or paper towels.
4. After the crusts are dry, cut them into small cubes, sticks or strips. They are made curly using a special knife or molds.

Simple candied fruit recipes

Candied fruits are easy to prepare, even novice cooks can handle it. Choose the recipe you like and start creating a healthy and tasty treat!

The easiest recipe

A quick recipe for making candied fruits from watermelon peels will allow you to get a fragrant product in the shortest possible time, with which you will pamper your family in the winter.

You will need:

• crust - 1 kg;
• drinking water - ½ l;
• sugar - 1-1.2 kg.

To speed up the process, refuse to soak raw materials and immediately start making candied fruits.

Instructions:

1. Pour granulated sugar into a saucepan and cover with water.
2. Place the container on the stove and cook over low heat, stirring constantly.
3. When the sugar has completely dissolved and only the thick syrup remains in the saucepan, place the crust sticks in it and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Remove container from heat and cool food to room temperature.
5. Place again on the stove, bring to a boil and cook until the crusts are pleasantly amber and transparent.
6. Leave the candied fruits in the syrup overnight, remove them in the morning and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment or baking paper.
7. Dry in a dark, well ventilated room or oven.
8. Sprinkle the finished product with icing sugar and place in sealed containers.

With lemon

Use lemon to add sourness to candied fruits during cooking.

Composition:

• watermelon crusts - 1.5 kg;
• granulated sugar - 1.8 kg;
• water - 750 ml;
• 5 g citric acid or lemon / lime - 1 pc.

Cooking method:

1. Mix water with sugar, add lemon juice and cook a thick syrup.
2. Throw in the chopped crusts and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, cool and let it brew for two hours.
4. Place on the stove again and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until the candied fruit is translucent and soft. Most often it takes 5-10 brews.
6. Strain the cooled product through a colander.
7. Dry it in an oven or electric dryer at a temperature of + 40-60 ° C.

The finished candied fruit should be firm, but dry on the outside.

With orange

Another interesting version of candied watermelon is prepared from the following products:

• crusts - 1 kg;
• granulated sugar - 700 g;
• ripe oranges - 3 pcs.

Use the rind of a large, thick-horned watermelon. It is not necessary to immediately cut them off a large fruit, the raw materials can be collected gradually and stored in the refrigerator for up to two days.

Cooking instructions:

1. Use a vegetable peeler to cut off any remaining pulp and green skin from the rind, then cut into medium-sized cubes.
2. Pour cold water over the product and leave overnight.
3. Cut the zest from the oranges with a special knife or fine grater, and squeeze the juice from the pulp.
4. Place the peels in a deep ladle or saucepan, cover with sugar, add juice and orange zest, and then cover with water.
5. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally so that the granulated sugar dissolves and does not burn to the sides of the container.
6. After boiling, boil candied fruits for 5 minutes, turn off the stove and leave it alone until it cools completely (for the first time, preferably for 5-8 hours).
7. Repeat steps 6 until the amount of syrup is reduced. He should only stay at the bottom.
8. Place the candied fruit on a baking sheet and leave in the turned off oven for 2-3 days.
9. The finished treat will dry out on the outside and stop sticking to your hands.

If you add 3-5 tbsp to the soaking water. l. slaked lime and reduce the procedure time to 2-3 hours, this will make the candied fruit denser and similar to marmalade. Before combining the crusts with the rest of the components, they are washed in running water and dried.

With soda

The baking soda softens the watermelon rind and is added to the water for soaking. Thanks to its effect, candied fruits are tender and melt in the mouth. Use it like this:

1. 1 tsp dilute soda in 3-4 tbsp. hot water.
2. Pour over the crust solution and leave for 2-3 hours.
3. Rinse the raw material well under running water and dry it.

After this procedure, use your favorite recipe and make a delicious treat for the whole family.

With ginger

Candied ginger fruits are somewhat reminiscent of oriental sweets. For their preparation, not only ground root is used, but also other spices - for example, vanilla, red pepper, cloves and cardamom.

List of components:

• watermelon peel - 1 kg;
• sugar - 800 g;
• water - 700 ml;
• zest - 1 tsp;
• red pepper - a pinch for taste;
• ground ginger - 1 tsp.

Preparation:

1. Boil a thick syrup from sugar, water, ground pepper, zest and ginger.
2. Soak the crusts in it for 2-3 hours, then bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
3. Cool the product and repeat the process several times until tender.
4. Dry candied fruits at a temperature of + 40-60 ° С and enjoy a fragrant dessert.

In a multicooker

The multicooker will facilitate and speed up the process of cooking candied fruits from watermelon peels.

Composition:

• crusts - 1.5 kg;
• granulated sugar - 2 kg;
• drinking water - 1.5 l;
• icing sugar - for dusting.

Cooking steps:

1. Soak watermelon rinds in cold water and refrigerate for 3 days. Do not forget to change the liquid to fresh 2 times a day.
2. Rinse the raw materials, place them in the multicooker bowl, fill them with water (it should completely cover the crusts), set the "Steam cooking" mode for 20 minutes.
3. Drain the liquid, cover the product with sugar and fill with water.
4. Turn on the multicooker to the "Pilaf" mode.
5. Cool, drain excess syrup through a sieve.
6. Dry the candied fruits, stir with the powdered sugar and distribute into jars or containers with lids.

In the dryer

Busy housewives will need an electric dryer to save time.

Cooking method:

1. Boil the soaked rinds in sugar syrup until transparent.
2. Strain through a colander and clean cheesecloth, folded in several layers.
3. Place the food in an electric dryer and cook until cooked.
4. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Children will love the colored candied fruits. To give the desired shade, simply add food coloring or half a cup of concentrated juice from blueberries, cherries, chokeberries, currants to the syrup.

In the oven

In the oven, you can quickly and efficiently dry candied fruits from watermelon peels. For this:

1. Prepare a dessert according to your favorite recipe.
2. Drain the syrup with a sieve or cheesecloth.
3. Arrange the sweet sticks on a baking sheet so that they do not touch each other.
4. Place in an oven heated to + 40-60 ° C and dry in convection mode. If the oven is not equipped with a fan, then lower the temperature to + 30-40 ° C.

Read also:

How to make delicious and simple watermelon rind jam.

The most delicious recipes for salting whole watermelons in a barrel for the winter.

Features of growing watermelons in Siberia in the open field: step by step instructions.

Candied watermelon pulp

If you add orange peels to the pulp, you get interesting candied fruits with a watermelon-citrus aroma.

Ingredient List:

• watermelon - 7-9 kg;
• sugar - 3 tbsp.;
• mint or lemon balm leaves - 3-4 pcs.;
• orange peels - optional.

Cooking method:

1. To create these candied fruits, the pulp is suitable, cut next to the crusts, along with a white layer.
2. Raw materials are cut into strips, covered with granulated sugar and left for 20 minutes to release the juice.
3. Place on the stove, add mint leaves, bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes.
4. The product is cooled, mixed with orange peels and boiled again until a thick consistency is obtained.
5. When the pieces of watermelon and orange acquire an amber hue, they are cooled, thrown onto a sieve and allowed to drain.
6. Candied fruits are ready. They are immediately served on the table or dried in the oven for long-term storage.

The syrup remaining after cooking candied watermelon is poured into a glass jar and used as a sauce for pancakes.

The benefits and harms of the product

As a result of heat treatment, the watermelon loses some of its useful components, but the finished candied fruits include:

• vitamins B, C and P;
• magnesium;
• fructose;
• organic acids;
• calcium;
• vegetable fiber;
• iron.

Candied fruits have a beneficial effect on the work of the gastrointestinal tract, cleanse the body of toxins, toxins, heavy metal salts and improve metabolism.

Candied fruits rarely harm the body, they have a small number of contraindications. These include:

• intolerance to the product;
• allergy to its components;
• ulcer;
• gastritis;
• flatulence;
• diabetes.

Watermelon peels are an effective diuretic, so their frequent use leads to the leaching of potassium from the body.

How and where to store candied fruits

For storage, candied fruits are distributed in jars or containers, tightly closed and placed in a dark, dry place without drafts. The back corner of your kitchen cabinet is a good choice.

Reference. To store candied fruits throughout the winter, immediately after cooking, pack them with syrup in clean jars and roll up.

Reviews

On Internet forums, there are mostly positive reviews about candied fruits from watermelon peels.

Angelica, Tomsk: «For a long time I considered such candied fruits a second-rate product and did not understand why people spend so much time cooking them. Last summer, my mother-in-law gave me a treat. I tried to find out where she bought them for a long time, but my mother admitted that she made them herself from the rind left over from the watermelon. I took the recipe from her and now I delight in July-August with seven healthy candied fruits. There is no way to prepare for the winter, as the children and the husband eat them very quickly. "

Ivan, Orenburg: “We grow watermelons in our summer cottage, I stumbled upon a recipe for making candied peel. We have been making them for several years already, grandchildren like them, they are stored for a long time, I eat them instead of sweets. "

Conclusion

Now, if an unripe watermelon comes across or it is a pity to throw away the peels, you know how to make tasty and healthy candied fruits at home. Choose any recipe and delight the whole family with a natural treat. The main thing is to follow the rules of preparation and preparation of raw materials.