Candied Fruit

Candied fruit, “La Boquería” market in Barcelona. wikimedia / 2008 / Public Domain

Candied fruit is fruit that has been candied by drawing cell water out of the fruit and replacing that water by sugar.

The “great” candied fruits are figs, mandarin oranges, melons, pears, plums and pineapple. The French call these candied fruits the “fruits nobles”. The bulk of the industry, however, is candied cherries.

Candied fruit is sold in tubs and sealed boxes, mixed or as separate fruits.

In France, candied fruit is considered a culinary art and a great delicacy.

Assorted candied fruits in the Boyer à Sault store in Vauluse, France. Véronique Pagnier / wikimedia / 2010 / Public Domain

Making candied fruit

In making candied fruit, it is better to use fruit that is just ripe. Dried fruit can also be used. Starting from dried fruit takes two-thirds less time, but it does need to be rehydrated first. The candying process can take 6 to 14 days, or even several months. You put whole small fruits, or chopped larger fruits, into a sugar syrup, and gradually day by day increase the strength of the sugar syrup. The sugar syrup pulls the water out of the cells in the fruit, because sugar attracts water, and the water that leaves the cells gets replaced by the sugar. The process must be gradual or the fruit will shrivel and toughen.

Limes cannot be candied successfully at home; an enzyme in their rind will darken them and break them down. Commercially, though, it can be done, and both candied lime slices and candied lime peel (or zest) are available.

Candied fruit as a “catch-all” term

The term “candied fruit” is often used casually as a catch-all phrase for candied fruit, crystallized fruit (aka frosted fruit), and glazed fruit (aka glacé fruit).

Candied fruit is fruit that has been candied as described above. The two latter are actually different products. Crystallized fruit is fruit that has been frosted with caster sugar. Glazed fruit is fruit that has been coated or shipped in a sugar syrup.

Sometimes small fruit jellies made with fruit juice are also labelled as being candied fruit, but this is usually an error made by an amateur in the field. These are properly just candy that happens to be fruit-flavoured.

Cooking Tips

When dicing candied fruit, scissors can be used for a change of pace. Or the fruit can also simply be purchased already diced.

Using a food processor to chop candied fruit can be tricky. The candied fruit can often jam up around the blade. If your recipe calls for a dry ingredient such as flour or sugar, and it is appropriate to have that mixed with the candied fruit, you could try adding a small amount of the flour or sugar to the food processor along with the fruit.

Should you have fruit frosted in sugar (crystallized fruit) that you want to use in a recipe that calls for plain candied fruit, you could rinse the sugar off. It seems like a bite of a waste, however, and it may be better just to purchase plain candied fruit.

Substitutes

Other candied fruit. Not dried fruit. If you want or need to use dried fruit, look for a fruitcake recipe which calls for it. The recipe will likely have additional liquids or steps in it to compensate for the fruit being dried. Do not substitute maraschino cherries for candied cherries.

Candied fruit. Jenő Szabó / Pixabay.com / 2015 / CC0 1.0

Literature & Lore

“Candied, Crystallized and Glacé Fruits. All three types of preserved fruits are based on the same basic method of preparation and the difference is in the finish. Candied fruits are dry and they are often given a crystalized or glacé finish. A crystallized finish is achieved by rolling the fruit in sugar and a glacé finish is produced by coating the preserved fruit in a fresh syrup which is then carefully dried……

The fruit is covered with a diluted hot syrup, which is gradually increased in sugar content on a daily basis until it becomes a heavy syrup. In this way, the fruit is slowly impregnated with sugar which acts as a preservative. It is recommended that glucose or dextrose is used in place of part of the sugar, particularly when preparing candied peel.

It is essential that the process of slowly increasing the concentration of sugar in the syrup is followed as this allows the water which is present in the fruit to diffuse out slowly as the sugar penetrates it. Unless the process is gradual the fruit will become shrivelled in appearance and tough in texture.” ^[1]Jones, Bridget, Ed. Home Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables. London: AFRC Institute of Food Research. 1989. 14th edition, revised. Page 130.

Language Notes

Candied fruit is occasionally also referred to as semi-dried, or semi-moist fruit.

Types of candied fruit

Candied Angelica

Candied angelica is pieces of angelica stem that has been "candied."It is a very brilliant, almost neon green colour. Candied angelica is used in small quantities as a garnish for desserts, because it has a strong flavour. It can also be coated in...

Candied Apricots

Candied Apricots are apricots that have been dried, then candied. The apricots are dried first, then soaked in a sugar syrup. They end up tender and chewy. They can be eaten on their own out of hand, or used as a garnish, or as an ingredient in...

Candied Cherries

Candied cherries are cherries that have been soaked in a sugar syrup to preserve them, which has the effect of also candying and sweetening them at the same time. They are often dyed in various colours.

Candied Peel

Candied peel (aka mixed peel) is the peel of citrus fruit which has been simmered in sugar syrup, then dried and chopped. The simmering drives the bitterness out of the peel, which then absorbs all the sweetness from the sugar. It is used in Christmas...

Crystallized finish for fruit

Crystallized fruit is pieces of candied fruit that have been rolled in sugar, to give a crystalline look to the fruit. Literature & Lore "Crystallized Finish : Sprinkle a layer of granulated sugar on a piece of greaseproof paper. Dip a piece...

Glacé finish for fruit

Glacé fruit is pieces of candied fruit that has been rolled coated in sugar syrup, to give a glass-like (or "glazed") finish to the surfaces of the pieces of fruit. The glazing process is not difficult, but it does require attention to detail. Literature ...