I relish the timeless treasure of Glacé Fruit
I have always wanted to create the delicate glacé whole orange; the correct and proper instructions seem to be a vaulted secret. There is a wonderful confectionery market in Nice France, The Confiserie Florian; they have almost every type of glacé fruit and maroons glacés(candied chestnuts) each piece is more extraordinary than the other. So it was no surprise Sydney and I wanted to recreate the magic for Christmas.
After about 4 trial and errors (we started our experiment on November 1st) we finally developed a a glacé that we were proud of, I cannot mislead you The Confiserie Florian glacé fruit is superior to ours, but ours is as close as we could aspire too.
The processes behind the glacé fruit consists of: the oranges should slightly underripe. Traditional the oranges or other fruits are first blanched in water to soften them and to help remove the bitterness. The fruit is then macerated in a series of increasingly concentrated sugar syrups, which penetrates the flesh of the fruit with sugar without damaging it. Once drained, the fruits are ready to use, packaged for a holiday gift, or placed in a christmas pudding cake.
Candied orange and citron is timeless classic
Glacé Orange:
3 to 4 oranges or lemons
4.5 kilogram/ 22-cups sugar or 1 pound bag
2.6 kilograms/ 11-cups sugar
640 gram/2-cups glucose
1-crockpot
Prepare your mise en place.
Mise en place
Pierce the outside of the fruit with a fine pin and then penetrate the blossom end of the fruit with a long pin taking care to not go through the bottom of orange.
Gently pierce the entire skin of the fruit without damaging the skin
Place the washed oranges and/or lemons in the bottom of a crock pot, cover with enough water to cover the fruit entirely.
Start the crockpot on high for 1hour, uncovered, then reduce the temperature to low, and cover for six hours
In the meantime prepare a simple syrup of one to one ration of sugar and water; 800 grams/ 4-cups of sugar to 948 grams/ 4-cups of water, pour into a measuring jug till cooled and set aside.
Simple syrup
After 6 hours empty the water from the crockpot and replace it with the simple syrup.
Day one: leave on low for another 6 hours
After the fruit has simmered in the simple syrup for 6 hours turn off the crockpot and leave the oranges/ lemons overnight.
Day 2:
Empty all but 1/2 cup of the simple syrup and replace with a more concentrated syrup, consisting of 1600 grams/ 8-cups of sugar to 948 grams/ 4-cups of water. Pour the syrup over the fruit still in the crockpot. Turn the crockpot on high, uncovered for 1 hour. Than reduce to low, cover , and simmer for 6 hours.
After the six hours, using a slotted spoon check the fruit for any blemishes. If the syrup has evaporated replace it with enough syrup to cover the oranges/ lemons, and allow the the fruit to continue to simmer for six more hours.Once the the fruit has simmered again for 6 hours turn the crockpot off, leave the fruit to bath in the syrup overnight.
Day 3:
Empty all but 1/2 cup of the simple syrup and replace with a more concentrated syrup consisting of 3200 grams/ 16-cups of sugar, 640 grams/ 2-cups of water, 948 grams/ 4-cups glucose follow the same crockpot directions as above; be sure to replenish the syrup as it evaporates.
After the the oranges/lemons have simmered for 12 hours, remove the glacé oranges/lemon to parchment papered covered cooling racks. Allow the fruit to drain gently, overnight. Once the glacé oranges/lemons have been sufficiently drained pour about 1/2-cup of syrup over the fruit.
I realize this is a tedious long process, but glacé fruit is heavenly and is a unique gift for that special person.
I promise the time is worth the effort
What lovely photos of the oranges. If you have more in this style, I’d love to sponsor a photo exhibit on our site. Take a look at the Food Art section to get an idea of what we do.
Bobbie, these are so beautiful, do you mind if I ask what would be the different ways you wouuld eat them, and serve them, what is the texture and taste like? What fruits can be Glaced in this way. This is so interesting, thank you for this post.
Im so excited to have found this recipe !
I been buying them for $ 21.00 a pound at a specialty store
By my home .
I am glad my post could help you!
Thank you so much – I was in despair of finding a recipe. Am going to put the glace orange in the centre of my Christmas Pudding this year.
Friendly greetings from North Yorkshire, England and hope you are safe from Hurricane Sandy.
Take care, Yve
Yve, I am glad I could help. If you have ay question please do not hesitate to contact me! 🙂
I’m curious as to why you throw out the syrup each time. Have you tried just adding more sugar each time. You would have to drain the fruit and dissolve the sugar into the syrup over low heat and then add it back.
The syrup becomes very dark and thick; to achieve a beautiful glacé fruit the sugar needs to remain clear. It also appears the whole fruit can become hard if the sugar isn’t changed.
Hi there, thanks for the recipe,. One question- how do you store the glacé oranges? And for how long? I made glacé figs and stored them in the fridge and much to my horror the top one inside the jar had a spot of mold on it after 6 months in the fridge. Many thanks Cris from New Zealand.
I usually use then with in a month and keep them in the refrigerator.
I started these today with lemons and limes. I wasn’t sure how hot the crock pot should be for the first batch in the water. Love your site and recipes.
I made this but I think my crock pot is way to hot. They ended up turning brown and were rock hard. The first two days they seemed fine. They turned brown the last day during the longer cooking cycle. I will try them again using the warm setting instead of low. I did one batch in a different smaller crock pot using key limes that turned out fine but I did adjust the cooking times for the smaller fruit. Thanks for sharing your recipe and your secrets!!
Diedra, I am sorry hear tour glacé oranges had issues; let me know if the lower setting works. My crock pot has temperature control, I didn’t think about it.
If I wanted to make these now (Aug) for Christmas as my oranges need to be harvested, how can I keep/store the candied oranges till later in the year. Would I put the orange in a sterilised jar and pour the syrup in cover it then seal the top? Or do you have any suggestions?
Suzi,You are on the right track! You will want to put them in a sterilized jar with the syrup and place the jar in your refrigerator until ready to use..They should last 6 months.
Hi Bobbie,
As with other readers/participants I had to find the Orange Glace recipe. Thank you for it. Can you help me trouble shoot my attempt? Followed it this weekend. I’m to the point where the 6 small oranges & 4 lemons are going to be set aside for cooling. I’m concerned. They are brown, almost black, and my syrup has a bitter aftertaste. The oranges I’ve seen, and eaten were orange, and the syrup was clear not brown. What’s gone wrong? The oranges? My crock pot has low & high. Was it too hot? What temperature are the hi and low settings?
As an aside you instruction about glucose mention 2 cups in the list and 4 cups in the recipe. My syrup was brown before this step. But I used the ratios which were the same.
Thanks
Hi MMassey, Every crock pot is different, yours might become hotter than mine. Try placing your crock pot on low. The recipe calls for 4.5 kilogram/ 22-cups sugar or 1 pound bag of sugar (you may not have to use all the sugar, it will depend on how fast your simple syrup is evaporating). You can also try to change the the crock pot more frequently as well. Hope this helps! Bobbie 🙂
hi Bobbie just wondered could you use this recipe with other fruits
Any citrus fruits
Great article but it didn’t have evyn-thirgeI didn’t find the kitchen sink!
I am using this recipe for my Buddha hands – whole -will let you know it turns out…
Hi Bobby, After seeing this lovely candied orange while looking for recipes I just had to try my hand at making them. It’s now the morning of day three. My oranges are after turning a light brown colour but i’m sure they will taste just as delicious as yours. Reading the question and answers I think why this has happened is because of the size of the orange used. I didn’t use the large orange but the medium sized ones (usually 7 in a net bag) the cooking times may have been a bit too long for the smaller orange. When this lot is finished I will make again and reduce the timing. Fingers crossed!
I know that shop! The fruit was jewel-like. I have never forgotten them. I found some glace whole mandarin oranges in Scotland. They were dipped halfway in chocolate. Devine!
Do you have a recipe using whole melons?
I am going to make these.
Thank you so much,
Cornelia bird
Atlanta Ga