What are the best fruits to be candied?

Candied fruit lovers would love that absolutely all fruits could be candied, but this is not always possible, since there are always better fruits to be candied than others. Also, when making desserts or including candied fruits in savoury dishes, there are always a few that are most used by professionals.

Chefs and pastry chefs are also beginning to include in their creations not only candied fruits, but also candied vegetables, as they provide a variety of flavours, textures, colour and aroma that make their dishes more attractive. We are going to see in this article the best fruits for crystallizing and those that are used more regularly by professionals.

Best fruits to be candied

As we know, the candied process is closely related to water and sugar, in such a way that the final result will depend on the amount of both components, the temperature and the cooking time. We can distinguish candied or glazed fruit, depending on how the sugar is distributed throughout the piece.

Professionals have different ways of using candied fruit. They usually use it in small pieces, in strips, segments or portions and, on some occasions, they use the whole fruit, such as candied cherries.

There are fruits that, due to their characteristics, have a lot of water inside, such as grapefruit, watermelon, strawberry or melon and confit is not recommended, although it can also be carried out. Not only the pulp is used to preserve the fruit, the skin of the lemon, lime or orange is also widely used to provide aroma and flavour to desserts and other dishes.

In addition, you can candied fruits with seeds, such as apples or pears, or without them. The same happens with the bone. You can find candied fruits with or without it, such as cherries, peach, apricot or plum, among others. Normally the bone is removed, but it is also possible to find it with bone depending on the use that the professional wants to give it.

These are the candied fruits that are most often candied and are regularly used by chefs and pastry chefs:

• Cherry
• Peach
• Pineapple
• Pear
• Orange
• Mandarin
• Plum
• Melon
• Kiwi
• Apricot
• Orange strips
• Lemon strips

Figs, dates and pumpkin are also frequently used. It’s also very common to use candied vegetables as an appetizer, garnish or even as an ingredient in different dishes and desserts, such as carrots, olives, onions, aubergines or candied ginger.

Chefs often use candied vegetables to combine with other ingredients for surprising dishes. Confit onion, for example, is ideal for enhancing flavours in garnishes and combines very well with candied olives, carrots and aubergines.

Candied ginger zest is used to make biscuits, cakes, muffins, tarts and other confectionery products. In the case of carrot confit, it is being used more and more to make Carrot Cake, since it gives it a very different flavour and texture from natural carrot. For its part, the candied olive is used to make chocolates, cookies, muffins and other pastry products.

Quality candied fruit

Currently, professionals have candied fruit on the market in different formats to suit their needs. For example, one of the most widely used is diced candied fruit, which can be used as an ingredient for cakes, biscuits, waffles, pancakes, cupcakes, etc., or also to accompany creamy yogurts and in toppings full of colour and flavour . In cocktails, the most innovative professionals include candied olives, pieces of fruit or candied cherries to surprise diners.

Now that Christmas is approaching, candied fruit takes on a special role, especially in such emblematic desserts of these holidays as the Roscón de Reyes, the Panettone, the Christmas Cake or, in the case of Spain, the Fruits of Aragon, which they mix the chocolate with the candied fruit as bombons.

Why does Lazaya offer the best candied fruit?

Professionals know very well the type of fruit they want for their products and they also know which brand offers the highest quality and variety of containers and formats to meet their needs. In the case of preserved Lazaya, it has been offering professionals canned fruits of the highest quality for more than 80 years and, especially, candied fruit with all the guarantees for the most demanding professionals.

Among its specialties, candied cherries of supreme quality stand out, since it has its own plantations and carries out the production process from start to finish. Candied, Maraschino, Amarena and liqueur cherries are highly appreciated by professionals for their unmistakable flavour and colour.

It also offers the possibility of using the best candied fruits such as noble fruits, where there is a wide variety, such as orange, apple, pineapple, tangerine, plum, melon, pear, apricot or pumpkin. In Christmas Fruits, the professional has at his disposal whole or half orange and cherry discs with natural colouring to decorate all kinds of desserts.

Contact us and tell us what you need for your creations. We can customize your order. Talk later?