When you candy fruit with this method you are creating a hard crunchy candy shell on the outside of the fruit. You can do this with many different types of fruit, but I chose to candy strawberries. This kind of candied fruit is typically served on wooden skewers, but I wanted to jazz up my cheesecake a little and thought they would be a fun change. The candying really does make the fruit look beautiful and shiny, while adding a sweet crunch!
One thing to keep in mind is the fruit will not stay crunchy for long so these should be made right before you are planning on serving them.
To candy fruit you will need:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
Strawberries or other fruit
Ice water
Clean and fully dry the fruit. If using strawberries you can keep the stems on if you choose, but I sliced off the tops of the strawberries as I was using them on a dessert as I mentioned earlier.
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. The mixture needs to be at 300 degrees which takes about 5-10 minutes. Once it hits this temperature you can test to see if it is ready by dipping a spoon into the sugar and then immediately into a glass of ice water. It should form a hard candy crust on the spoon.
One thing I learned the hard way is not to allow the sugar to go above 300 degrees because it will start to burn. It got very dark brown and tasted horrible and then became what I believe might be molasses. It was quite a mess lol.
When your sugar is ready dip the fruit into the hot sugar with a wooden skewer and coat evenly, then dip into the ice water immediately and the fruit should have a hard coating. Place them on parchment paper until you are ready to serve them.
These do not stay crunchy very long so do not make these ahead of time as they are best served right away.
Don’t they look pretty?
