Candied Beet-Infused Lemon Peel

After seeing the candied orange peel on Jake's affogato at Ici in Berkeley, I decided that I would infuse lemon peels with beet juice and, hopefully, created a pink candied peel naturally, without food coloring.  The lemon peels were looking very pink through the first two blanchings, but by the time they were completely candied, they just looked like orange peels. 

Oh, well.  They taste delectable even if they aren't the color I intended.

Take the peel of your citrus and slice into thin pieces. Place them in a pot, covered with cold water, bring them to a boil. As soon as they boil, remove from heat and drain. Repeat two more times.

Place sugar and water in a pot to make a syrup, using more water than you think you'd need, because you are going to simmer it down. As it starts to thicken, place the blanched peels in the syrup and simmer till the peels become translucent. For me, that took almost 90 minutes.

Let the peel cool, completed in the syrup. Remove the peels from the syrup and place them on a piece of parchment paper, letting the excess syrup run off. Then roll the candied skins in granulated sugar. With the first roll, the sugar will absorb the syrup and your peels will still be fairly vibrant. Roll them in sugar again to get that frosted look. Use as a garnish or chopped into recipes that require candied citrus.

Added bonus - Reserve the syrup for cocktails. Or add a splash to some sparkling wine for a mimosa-esque treat.

 

These will be finely chopped and sprinkled on my version of affogato tomorrow night.