Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type of fruit, this process of preservation can take from several days to several months. This process allows the fruit to retain its quality for up to a year. It has existed since the 14th century. The continual process of drenching the fruit in syrup causes the fruit to become saturated with

, preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms due to the unfavourable

osmotic pressure Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane. It is also defined as the measure of the tendency of a solution to take in a pure ...

this creates. Fruits that are commonly candied include

dates Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an ...

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

, pineapple, peaches, as well as

ginger root Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of lea ...

. The principal candied peels are orange and citron; these with candied lemon peel are the usual ingredients of mixed chopped peel (which may also include glacé cherries). Recipes vary from region to region, but the general principle is to boil the fruit,

steep Steep may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Steep'' (2007 film), a film about extreme skiing * ''Steep'' (video game), a 2016 video game Places England * Steep, Hampshire, a village in central Hampshire, England * Steep Hill, a popular to ...

it in increasingly stronger sugar solutions for a number of weeks, and then dry off any remaining water.

Uses

Candied fruits such as

are commonly used in

fruitcake Fruitcake (or fruit cake or fruit bread) is a cake made with candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and optionally soaked in spirits. In the United Kingdom, certain rich versions may be iced and decorated. Fruitcakes are typically served ...

s or pancakes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Candied Fruit Confectionery Food preservation

Uses

See also

References