Thoroughly wash the fruit, then cut off a small portion of the top and bottom of the fruit, then slice down the sides to make 4-6 incisions (depending on the size) along the length. Peel off chunks of the rind until you’ve removed everything from the flesh of the fruit. The white part (the pith) is quite bitter, but the following blanching process should remove most of that. If you have a lot of pith, feel free to trim some off, but don’t try and remove it all or your candied peels will end up hard and leathery. Take the segments you pulled off and slice into roughly ¼” strips.

Place the strips of peel into a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil and let cook about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain and rinse the peels in a colander or strainer. Fill with fresh water and repeat this process 2-3 more times to remove some of the bitterness from the pith. After the last draining and rinsing, set the peels aside and prepare the simple syrup.

Add 1 cup of fresh water and 2 cups sugar to the now empty sauce pan and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a candy or frying thermometer, you’ll want to get the sugar water up to about the threading or softball stage: between 230-240°F / 110-115°C.

Add the peels and lower the temperature to medium-low. You’ll want to keep the temperature roughly at the threading stage or slightly lower, but don’t let the mixture boil. Cook for 45 minutes or so, until the pith is translucent. Every stove is different, so while you don’t have to keep a constant eye on this while it cooks, keep checking on it occasionally to adjust the heat up or down.

Once the peels look finished, either strain them out of the syrup, or use a slotted spoon or spider to remove them and set on a cooling rack. Let them cool for 2-3 minutes until they’re cool enough to handle, then toss with the remaining cup of sugar and return to the cooling rack. Let them dry completely, at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Once dry to the touch, store them in an airtight container or use them for another recipe.