Dipping fresh fruit in sugar

Makes up to 80 pieces

Candy-dipped fruits are the perfect combination of fresh fruit and hard candy. They have a crisp outer shell of sugar and the season’s best fruit within—the perfect way to impress your guests at the end of a meal. They should never be refrigerated and must be used within hours of making.

Ingredients

  • Up to 80 pieces fresh fruit, with skin (see Keys to Success below)
  • 1 1/2 lb (3 cups) sugar
  • 10 oz (3/4 cup) light corn syrup
  • 4 oz (1/2 cup) water

Directions

  1. Clean and dry the fruit. Insert a toothpick into each piece to make them easier to handle. Lightly oil a sheet pan, or line it with parchment paper, to hold the dipped pieces.
  2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir while bringing to a boil.
  3. Cover the saucepan and boil for 4 minutes. Remove the cover, insert a thermometer, and cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 310°F.
  4. Remove from the heat and shock the saucepan in ice water for 20 seconds to prevent carryover cooking.
  5. Allow the cooked sugar to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes to cool and for bubbles to subside.
  6. Dip the fruits one at a time in the hot sugar to coat the outside of the fruit with candy.
  7. Allow the excess candy to drip off the fruit, and put on the prepared pan to cool and harden.
  8. Once the fruit has cooled, remove the toothpicks.
  9. Store at room temperature in a dry area and use within several hours, or the sugar will begin to dissolve.

Keys to Success

  • The fruit must have a skin or its moisture will quickly destroy the sugar coating. Using pieces of cut fruit such as melon or pineapple will not work unless they are served immediately.
  • Suggested fruits: strawberries, kumquats, grapes, clementine sections.
  • Be careful to cook the sugar accurately. If the candy is cooked to too high a temperature, it will have a caramel color and flavor; if cooked too low, it will stick to your teeth rather than breaking cleanly.
  • Exercise extreme caution when cooking sugar for hard candy, as it can cause severe burns.
  • Do not stir the sugar during the cooling stage.

Candy-Coated Fruit Bouquet

CIA FOODIES


Candy-Coated Fruits

Dipping fresh fruit in sugar
Makes up to 80 pieces Candy-dipped fruits are the perfect combination of fresh fruit and hard candy. They have a crisp outer shell of sugar and the season’s best fruit within—the perfect way to impress your guests at the end of a meal. They should never be refrigerated and must be used within hours of making.

Keys to Success

  • The fruit must have a skin or its moisture will quickly destroy the sugar coating. Using pieces of cut fruit such as melon or pineapple will not work unless they are served immediately.
  • Suggested fruits: strawberries, kumquats, grapes, clementine sections.
  • Be careful to cook the sugar accurately. If the candy is cooked to too high a temperature, it will have a caramel color and flavor; if cooked too low, it will stick to your teeth rather than breaking cleanly.
  • Exercise extreme caution when cooking sugar for hard candy, as it can cause severe burns.
  • Do not stir the sugar during the cooling stage.
Candy-Coated Fruit Bouquet

Ingredients

  • Up to 80 pieces fresh fruit, with skin (see Keys to Success below)
  • 1 1/2 lb (3 cups) sugar
  • 10 oz (3/4 cup) light corn syrup
  • 4 oz (1/2 cup) water

Directions

  1. Clean and dry the fruit. Insert a toothpick into each piece to make them easier to handle. Lightly oil a sheet pan, or line it with parchment paper, to hold the dipped pieces.
  2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir while bringing to a boil.
  3. Cover the saucepan and boil for 4 minutes. Remove the cover, insert a thermometer, and cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 310°F.
  4. Remove from the heat and shock the saucepan in ice water for 20 seconds to prevent carryover cooking.
  5. Allow the cooked sugar to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes to cool and for bubbles to subside.
  6. Dip the fruits one at a time in the hot sugar to coat the outside of the fruit with candy.
  7. Allow the excess candy to drip off the fruit, and put on the prepared pan to cool and harden.
  8. Once the fruit has cooled, remove the toothpicks.
  9. Store at room temperature in a dry area and use within several hours, or the sugar will begin to dissolve.

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