Tien Chiu

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November 11, 2012 by Tien Chiu

Eye candy

I got up this morning and did some prep work: putting away the caramels and the toffee, and laying out the candied citrus peels for later dipping. Here are the results of my labors:

jasmine tea caramels (with orange blossom honey and vanilla)
jasmine tea caramels (with orange blossom honey and vanilla)
One batch of English toffee
One batch of English toffee
A second batch of English toffee
A second batch of English toffee
Candied Meyer lemon and grapefruit peels
Candied Meyer lemon and grapefruit peels
Candied bergamot and yuzu peels
Candied bergamot and yuzu peels

For those who aren’t familiar with exotic citrus, Meyer lemons are a cross between an orange and a lemon. Unlike Eureka lemons (the standard supermarket kind), they aren’t just tart – they also have a wonderful fruitiness that is also present in the rind. Bergamot looks like a large but pale orange, and has a highly aromatic rind that is used to flavor Earl Grey tea. And yuzu are a Japanese citrus, the size of a mandarin orange, but with a yellow rind – and have a wonderful floral fragrance in addition to the usual citrus. I think it’s a relative of the lemon, but not sure.

While talking about exotic citrus, I just had to share my favorite, the Buddha’s Hand. It’s the most unusual citrus I’ve ever seen – I describe it as “a cross between a grapefruit and a squid”. Here’s why:

Buddha's Hand or fingered citron - front view
Buddha’s Hand or fingered citron – front view

And a side view:

Buddha's Hand or fingered citron - side view
Buddha’s Hand or fingered citron – side view

I adore them. They have a wonderful citron fragrance (because that’s what they are) and make an unusual centerpiece. I don’t candy the peel because the “fingers” are irregular in size, making the Etrog citron easier to deal with, but I love the way it looks.

Speaking of citrons, here’s an Etrog citron:

an Etrog citron
an Etrog citron

Those, believe it or not, are on the small side for Etrog citrons. They’re the biggest citrus I know of, generally the size of a football, and have a wonderful light citrusy fragrance. For some reason they’re traditional at one of the Jewish holidays, but I forget which. Not in season right now (it’s an old photo), but I’ll be buying and candying some in December. Yum!

Off to work. There is a ton of chocolate stuff to play with today!

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Filed Under: All blog posts, food, chocolate

Previous post: Intriguing new ideas
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Comments

  1. Glennisd says

    November 13, 2012 at 6:47 am

    making candied citrus is my personal favorite. yours look wonderful! i won’t make make mine until december though when my oranges are ready and highly perfumed…

    • Tien Chiu says

      November 14, 2012 at 4:52 am

       Hi Glennis,

      I usually wait until later in the season, too! I candy things as they come into season and then store the results in canning jars until it’s time to use them. This year I have citron, grapefruit, and yuzu on my list to candy!

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