Pumpkin is a vegetable that stores well all winter. Soups, porridges and puddings are made from it. But few people know that pumpkin makes delicious, very healthy and tasty candied fruits. Since pumpkin is slightly sweet, you will need very little sugar to prepare them.

My simple recipe and step-by-step photos will help you prepare delicious candied pumpkin in the oven for the winter. This time I used exactly this method for drying sweet delicacies.

To prepare, take:

• pumpkin – 3-4 kg;
• sugar – 200-300 kg;
• lemon – 1-2 pcs.;
• powdered sugar – 1-2 tbsp;
• enamel or glass pan;
• parchment paper.

How to make candied pumpkin at home

Wash and dry the pumpkin.

Cut it into two to four pieces.

Using a knife, remove all the seeds and the soft part on which they are held, cut into pieces two to three centimeters wide, as in the photo.

Peel these pieces.

Using a knife, cut long pieces of pumpkin into small pieces, 1-1.5 centimeters long.

Cut the washed lemons into thin slices. Place pieces of pumpkin and lemon in layers in an enamel or glass pan, sprinkling each with a small amount of sugar. Leave for 1-2 hours.

Heat water separately and pour boiling water over the workpiece so that the water barely covers it. Bring to a boil and simmer over very low heat for 40-60 minutes. It is important to monitor the cooking process and prevent the pumpkin pieces from becoming overcooked.

Place the cooled pieces on parchment paper so that they do not touch each other.

Place to dry in the oven at 50-60 degrees for 3-4 hours. Leave the oven lid ajar. This is what you should get as a result of drying in the oven.

Place the dried pumpkin pieces, which can already be called candied fruits, in a glass container for storage. Add 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Close the lid and shake until the powder evenly covers all the candied fruits.

Candied pumpkin does not need to be coated with powdered sugar. They taste and look very similar to dried apricots. Have a nice sweet taste with a slight sourness and, at the same time, are not cloying.

By serving healthy and tasty candied pumpkin with aromatic hot tea, you will get an unforgettable experience from this familiar ceremony.

To make the finished candied fruits even tastier, it is necessary that the pumpkin itself from which we will make them be the sweetest and most aromatic. Of course, the ideal option would be to use a butternut squash that is shaped like a guitar. This sweet orange beauty also has an incredible, slightly melon-like aroma.

But don’t worry if your pumpkin is ordinary, round and not very fragrant. Cinnamon and orange will complement the flavor of any pumpkin so that no one will guess what variety you used.

The main thing is to choose a ripe, dense pumpkin, without spoilage or signs of rotting.

The pumpkin should be washed, peeled, seeds and fibers removed.

Peeling a whole pumpkin or half of it is a little difficult. I do this: I cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and fibers with a spoon. And then I cut the pumpkin into slices (corresponding to the thickness of the future cubes) and cut off the skin from these slices. 100 times more convenient and faster than fiddling with a huge half of a pumpkin.

Cut 1.5 kg of pumpkin pulp into cubes no smaller than 3 by 3 cm. If you make the size 2 by 2 cm or smaller, then after boiling in syrup and drying in the oven you will get too small and deformed pieces of candied fruit. Try to make sure the cubes are the same size, otherwise smaller pieces will cook faster in the oven, dry out and stick to the paper.

Place the chopped cubes in a deep bowl and cover with sugar. Place the bowl in a cool place overnight (in the refrigerator or on the balcony).

Overnight, the pumpkin will release juice and all the sugar will dissolve, forming a fragrant pumpkin-sugar syrup.

Wash a medium-sized orange thoroughly. Cut it into pieces and remove the seeds.

Place the orange slices in a blender and puree.

Pour the pumpkin juice into a large saucepan, add water, add orange puree, a cinnamon stick and a small pinch citric acid.
Stirring constantly, cook the syrup over low heat and bring it to a boil.

Transfer the pumpkin cubes to the pan with the simmering syrup. Bring to a boil again, cook for 5 minutes, stirring the contents gently.
Turn off the heat and cool completely (about 2-3 hours, do not disturb the pumpkin cubes).

Turn the heat back on and after boiling, cook the cubes for 5 minutes. You don’t need to interfere with them anymore, but just remove the foam from the surface of the syrup. Turn off the heat again and cool. Repeat this procedure one more time. The result is three cooking approaches.

Pour the cooled pumpkin syrup into a large-mesh sieve so that the orange pulp does not linger on the surface of the pumpkin cubes. Wait a little, allowing the liquid to drain well.

Don't rush to pour out the orange syrup. It is very tasty and is suitable for soaking biscuits, making marmalade, jelly and drinks. And if you boil it a little more, you will get an excellent jam for filling pies, pies, and is also suitable as an addition to pancakes, pancakes or cheesecakes.

A baking sheet, or better yet two (to prepare the entire batch of candied fruits at once), should be lined with parchment paper. Lay out the cubes so that there is sufficient distance between them.

Set the oven temperature to 120-130 degrees and dry the candied fruits for about 1 hour. It may take a little less time, for example, 40-50 minutes (drying time depends on the oven itself, as well as the size of the candied fruits and the type of pumpkin). Try to control the drying time of candied fruits and taste them for softness. They should not be too dry. Remember that after cooling, the “sweets” will become even harder and drier.

After the allotted time spent in the oven, remove the baking sheet with candied fruits and lightly sprinkle the candied fruits with powdered sugar directly on it, so they do not stick together. Remove the candied fruit from the paper and place in a bowl with powdered sugar. Roll them well on all sides.
Transfer the finished candied fruits into a jar with a lid and store at room temperature.

From 1.5 kg of pumpkin pulp I got 550 g of candied fruits. We ate them quickly, in 2 days. If you have a large family, feel free to increase the proportions. Such candied fruits do not last long.
Candied pumpkin can be made with lemon flavor by replacing the orange with lemon. Just don’t puree the lemon (so that there is no bitterness in the finished candied fruits), but simply add lemon slices to the syrup. Such candied fruits will have a slight sourness.
Candied fruits can be served with tea, added to baked goods, porridge, and used to decorate cakes.

Now you know how to prepare a tasty and healthy delicacy - candied pumpkin.

Sweets come in different varieties. And, contrary to the popular belief that sweets are harmful, there are quite healthy options among them. This fully applies to candied pumpkin. Pumpkin itself is the undisputed leader in the ranking of autumn vegetables in terms of vitamins and other health bonuses. Whatever you cook from it, all these bonuses will remain with it. And you can always choose a gentle heat treatment mode, in which vitamins are preserved to the maximum. When preparing candied fruits, the pumpkin pieces will first need to be lightly boiled in sugar syrup and then dry in the oven. Both are done with utmost care. In general, the whole process takes almost two days, but the result is worth it.

Candied pumpkin is often prepared with the addition of cinnamon or lemon. It is not recommended to use them in pairs, otherwise the cinnamon will simply “clog” the lemon. It will go much better with orange. You can, of course, ignore all the “excesses” and limit the recipe to only pumpkin and sugar, but then the taste of candied fruits will turn out to be too banal - it will be easy to guess what they are made of. And citrus fruits are always intriguing.

“The Fair Half” presents a master class on making candied pumpkin and lemon.

Products:

The very first rule, which is worth remembering: pieces of pumpkin, gradually turning into dryish and sweet candied fruits, will decrease in both volume and weight. From the amount of products indicated in the recipe you will get approximately 250-300 g of “sweets”. Want more? Then adjust the proportions upward.

The process of creating candied fruits is also associated with certain rules, which housewives often don’t even suspect.

Rule two When preparing the pumpkin, try not to remove the part of the pulp in which the seeds were sitting. When you try it in candied form, you will understand that this is the highlight of candied pumpkin.

Rule three. Do not cut the pumpkin into too small pieces. Also be careful not to make them too thin or flat. Otherwise, after drying in the oven, they will become unbearably hard. The ideal cutting thickness is 0.5-0.7 cm. Any shape of the pieces is allowed. It is very convenient to cut the pumpkin in the form of oblong cubes.

Rule four. Choose a larger lemon, and, if possible, with a thin peel (it is juicier). Wash it and pour boiling water over it. How to cut it? Whatever you like - even in circles, even in quarters. The main thing is to be subtler. After boiling the pumpkin in syrup, the lemon will still have to be removed.

Rule five. It is better to take an enameled pan for boiling future candied fruits. A layer of pumpkin pieces is placed on its bottom, and several lemon slices should be placed on top.

The next layer is granulated sugar. Pour it in so that it evenly covers the lemons and pumpkin. The remaining ingredients should be placed in the pan in the same layers, one above the other.

Rule six. Place the pan with pumpkin and sugar on the stove and heat over moderate heat. When heated, the pumpkin and lemons will release juice, in which the sugar will gradually dissolve, creating a sweet syrup. Try to accurately detect the moment when it starts to boil. The pumpkin will need to be boiled in syrup for 3-5 minutes, no more, and removed from the stove. Heating during boiling should be minimal - if the syrup boils strongly, the pumpkin can fall apart and turn into a kind of mush.

Wait until the contents of the pan have cooled completely. Then put it back on the stove and repeat the whole process. After cooling, check how soft the pumpkin pieces are. If you come across specimens that are too hard, it means that the pan needs to be brought to a boil a third time. If everything is in order, move on to the next step.

Rule seven. You need to drain the syrup and place the pumpkin pieces in a sieve: the less liquid left in them, the better. The drained syrup is suitable for making other desserts - for example, sweet drinks.

Rule eight. Dry candied fruits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Some use foil or special silicone mats for the same purpose. Arrange the pumpkin so that its pieces do not touch each other. The oven in which the baking sheet is placed must be heated to 90-100 degrees, but not higher. It is recommended to keep the door open from start to finish. If your oven has a convection mode, be sure to turn it on.

The candied fruits will have to dry for 3-4 hours. The exact time depends on the capabilities of the oven and the condition of the pumpkin. The readiness of candied fruits is determined by appearance: when they acquire a slight reddish tint and their surface becomes “dried”, the desired degree of readiness has been achieved.

Rule nine. You need to remove candied fruits from the baking sheet while they are hot, picking them up with the tip of a knife. As they cool down, they stick tightly to the paper, and you can only tear them off afterwards with pieces of culinary parchment. And by the way, they cool down very quickly. By the time you remove half of the freshly prepared candied fruits, the rest will already have time to “stick” successfully. What to do in this case? The solution is simple: put the baking sheet back in the heated oven. The sugar “glue” will become liquid again, making the pumpkin pieces easier to pull apart.

Rule ten. Hot candied fruits should be immediately rolled in powdered sugar. Why not in granulated sugar? Because its grains are heavier and will stick worse to the pumpkin. In addition, powdered sugar becomes a kind of protective coating on the candied fruits and prevents them from sticking together into one big lump.

P.S.: If this master class was useful for you, you can say “thank you” to its author by writing a comment or clicking your favorite button social network under the publication.

Author's photos were used in the design of the master class. Copying is prohibited!

Probably many of us have thought about the benefits of store-bought sweets. Or rather, about their harm - about dyes, preservatives, unknown E and other additives. Not to mention sugar. But what to do? Sometimes you really want something sweet. Then, we decide, we will protect ourselves from harmful caramels and candies by replacing them with candied fruits. But are they useful? At first glance it seems so. These are just fruits boiled in sugar syrup and dried. But look at the candied fruits available for sale: they are unnatural bright color eloquently speaks of the fact that dyes were mixed into them for “presentation”. And no matter what the traders say, they say, those green ones are made from kiwi, and these orange ones are made from mangoes, they are all made from a hard pineapple stalk. And the food industry has learned to give any color. It’s better to buy plain-looking candied fruits or make them yourself. By the way, not only fruits, but also vegetables are suitable for this. Today we will look at how to make candied pumpkin. The recipes for this delicacy are very varied. Choose any one and go for it!

Candied pumpkin: ingredients

If we are going to prepare dessert, then we cannot do without sugar. Some of the sand must be ground into powder in order to roll the finished products in it. The first pressing question in how to prepare candied pumpkin is: which vegetable to choose? After all, since this mahogany crop came to us from Central America, many varieties have been bred. We choose the most ordinary pumpkin - orange color. They tend to be the most sugary. It is better not to take Japanese gray pumpkins and flat fruits. They have too much starch. You won't get marmalades, but hard, sweet crackers. Large, ripe, “pot-bellied” fruits are suitable for candied fruits. If you don't like the taste of pumpkin itself, this is not a reason to refuse the treat. Orange or lemon, as well as various spices (vanillin, cinnamon, cloves) will allow you not to feel the unpleasant cloyingness of the vegetable in the finished dessert.

Candied pumpkin: preparation

The process of making this type of dessert can be described by the formula: soaking in syrup and drying. Initially, candied fruits were made from grapes, dates, and figs in hot climates. The fruits were drying there under the scorching rays of the southern sun. The northerners invented a lot of recipes for candied fruits - and not only from exotic figs, but also from more affordable products, including vegetables. You can soak the fruits in sugar, or you can simply boil them in syrup. Recipe No. 1 suggests making these candied pumpkin this way. We clean the vegetable from peel and seeds. Cut the pulp (about two kilograms) into small cubes. Pour a glass of water into the pan and put it on the fire. Gradually add 700 grams of sugar. Stir until the crystals are completely dissolved. As soon as the syrup boils, add pieces of pumpkin and peeled, sliced ​​two oranges into it (you can replace them with lemons, then the candied fruits will be more sour). Cook for a little over five minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to cool. We repeat the procedure twice more with an interval of 10 hours. Then drain the contents of the saucepan into a colander. The syrup can be used as a base for compote or sweet sauces. We remove the oranges. Place the pumpkin pulp on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place in the oven on the lowest heat possible (with the door ajar) for five hours. In a bowl, mix powdered sugar, cinnamon, a little starch and vanilla. Roll the finished products in this sprinkle.

Recipe No. 2, faster

As you can see, preparing candied pumpkin is not a difficult task, but the process itself will take at least two days. Therefore, here is another recipe, faster. Cut the pulp (kilogram) into pieces. Prepare syrup from a glass of water and 400 grams of sugar. Place pumpkin and peeled orange/lemon into boiling liquid. Cook over low heat longer than in the previous recipe. Turn off the stove only when the pumpkin becomes soft. Place candied fruits on baking paper. Dry for about an hour in an oven preheated to 130 degrees. After complete cooling, sprinkle the candied fruits with a mixture of powdered sugar and cinnamon. Such products are good for filling pies and dumplings. Or you can roll them directly in syrup into jars.

Recipe No. 3, more intricate

Cut the pumpkin pulp into 2 centimeter cubes. Place in a deep saucepan. Sprinkle the pieces with granulated sugar - a glass per kilogram of pumpkin pulp. Place in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning you will see that the pumpkin has released juice. Place the pan on low heat and bring to a boil. Don't mix. Cool and pour the juice into 600 grams of granulated sugar. Let this syrup cook. When all the crystals dissolve, add 5 grams of citric acid. Pour hot syrup over pumpkin. Place on low heat and cook until the cubes become frosted glass and the syrup thickens like honey. Use a slotted spoon to catch the candied pumpkin, roll them in powdered sugar with the addition of grated zest and cinnamon, and place them on baking paper.

Recipe No. 4, fragrant and simple

Cut the pumpkin pulp (800 g), sprinkle with granulated sugar (0.5 kg) and put it in the refrigerator for several hours. We peel the orange and remove seeds, cut it into a blender, and make a puree. Pour the released pumpkin juice into the pan and add half a glass of water. Add orange puree and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil. Without removing from the heat, add pumpkin pieces into the syrup. Stir and continue cooking for five minutes at low temperature. Cool completely. Place on low heat again and cook for five minutes. We repeat this procedure twice. Place candied pumpkin on paper. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about an hour at 130 degrees. After cooling completely, roll the treat in powdered sugar on all sides.

Candied pumpkin in chocolate glaze

You will get delicious homemade sweets. Cut a medium sized pumpkin into large pieces and throw into boiling sugar syrup (3 cups of water and 5 cups of sugar). When the liquid begins to bubble again, turn off the heat and cool. We repeat the procedure 3-4 times with an interval of 6 hours. Place the pumpkin pieces on a sieve and let the liquid drain. Dry in the oven for 2-3 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Mix 8 tablespoons of sugar, three teaspoons of cocoa powder, 70 grams butter. Add a drop of honey. We dilute this in four tablespoons of milk. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes over low heat. Dip the candied fruits one at a time into the hot glaze and place them on foil. In half an hour the sweets are ready.

Pieces of amber that have preserved the sun, light and aroma of summer for the winter - that’s what candied pumpkin is!

The technology for preparing candied fruits is so simple that even grandmothers in villages once prepared them. They didn't have food processors, microwaves, slow cookers, or convection ovens. Pieces of fruit were boiled in sugar syrup in the oven for a long time, then simmered there for several more days. And then they simply laid them out on paper and dried them either in the sun or in the oven.

Such delicious candied fruits and berries were placed in glass jars and stored in the pantry for the whole winter, enjoying such delicious candied fruits. Moreover, it is best to choose sweet nutmeg varieties for such sweets. Such pumpkins can be easily distinguished from hard-bark pumpkins by their shape and size. They also have sweeter and juicier flesh with a beautiful orange color. This is why you get such delicious candied pumpkin with orange and cinnamon in the oven, see the recipe with photos below.

• peeled pumpkin pulp - 800 g,
• granulated sugar - 1 kg,
• water - 250 ml,
• vanillin 10 g,
• ripe orange fruit - 1 pc.,
• ground cinnamon - 1-2 tsp.

Cut a ripe beautiful pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and fibers from it. Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the peel from the pumpkin and cut it into cubes of approximately 1.5-2 cm. Remember that the candied fruit will be boiled down and then dried, so it will significantly decrease in size.

Place the pumpkin in a saucepan, fill it with water, add sugar and sliced ​​orange fruit.

Boil the pumpkin in syrup over low heat for 15 minutes, and then let it cool completely.

Put it on the fire again, boil for 15 minutes and cool. We repeat this process 3-5 times until the pumpkin is completely boiled down. For the last time, add vanillin and cinnamon to the syrup.

Strain the pumpkin from the syrup; to do this, place the pumpkin in a colander and let all the syrup drain.

Now line a baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully place the pieces of candied pumpkin on it.

Place the baking sheet in the oven on the lowest heat, approximately 80 - 100 degrees, and dry for 3-5 hours. It’s very good if you have a convector function, then drying candied fruits will be much faster and more efficient. It’s even better to dry candied fruits in an electric dryer, where you can set the temperature you need and not worry that the candied fruits will burn.

Remove the finished candied fruits from the baking sheet while they are still warm so as not to dry to the paper, sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon and put in a jar.

Bon appetit!

Recipe 2: homemade candied pumpkin

Transparent, like amber, filled summer sun Sweet Orange Slices are healthy, homemade candied pumpkin.

You just need to boil the slices in syrup and dry them. Choose a pumpkin and suitable recipe preparations and are in a hurry to delight those with a sweet tooth with delicious and healthy homemade sweets.

They are so tasty that they can easily replace candy, especially since they are much healthier and there is no specific smell or taste of pumpkin. The slightly translucent orange flesh of the pumpkin is covered with a light “shawl” of powdered sugar. Mmmmmmm! Be sure to prepare it. Believe me, these sweet orange slices will fly apart in an instant, and you will cook them more than once, like I did. It is especially convenient when you have an electric dryer.

• pumpkin – 1 piece (about 2.2 kg)
• granulated sugar – 600 g
• citric acid – 10 g
• powdered sugar – 150 g.

Wash the outside of the pumpkin well with water and cut it in half lengthwise with a sharp knife, after cutting off the pumpkin tail. Using a spoon, scoop out the contents of the pumpkin - seeds and fibers.

Advice! Never throw away pumpkin seeds or pumpkin tail. The seeds can be dried, fried and chewed at your leisure. And pumpkin tail infusion is an excellent remedy for toothache, tested on myself.

Peel the thick skin from the pumpkin. The skin of a ripe fruit is usually like wood, and peeling is not an easy process. To do this, place half of the pumpkin on a cutting board, cut side down, strengthen it so that it does not slide on the table. Using a vegetable peeler or sharp knife, peel, removing small pieces of skin. Cut the peeled pulp into about 5 millimeters thick.

Place the pumpkin slices in a thick-walled cup or cauldron, sprinkle with sugar, and leave for 5-6 hours. Sugar calculation: for 1 kilogram of peeled pumpkin – 300 grams of sugar.

While the pumpkin slices stand, the juice will release and the sugar will almost completely melt.

Cauldron with slices in own juice put on low heat, bring to a boil, and after boiling for 2 minutes, remove from heat and leave for at least 6 hours.

During this time, the pumpkin will cool, soak and become softer. Return the cup (or cauldron) with pumpkin pieces to the fire, add the required amount of citric acid, bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes and turn off.

Important! Usually 2 boils are enough. Focus on the pumpkin: it should not turn into puree, remain soft and at the same time keep its shape. If the pumpkin remains hard, repeat the procedure a third time.

Drain the syrup. It’s convenient to do this by carefully throwing the future candied fruits into a colander so that the syrup drains well.

Advice! Never pour out the pumpkin syrup. It can be added to compote, used as an impregnation for pies and cakes, etc.

We place the boiled slices loosely on the rack of an electric dryer and dry for about 5 hours, preferably changing the racks in places, then the candied fruits will dry at the same time. The drying time depends on the type of pumpkin, its juiciness, the size of the candied fruit, the power of the electric dryer, etc.

If you do not have an electric dryer, then dry candied pumpkin You can do it naturally in a dry place: place the candied fruits on parchment (fabric), when they are dry on one side, turn them over. This will take several days. You can also dry candied fruits in the oven at the lowest temperature.

Remove the delicious coffee cakes from the electric dryer rack. They should remain elastic, soft inside, and still a little sticky and transparent on the outside. In no case should you overdry candied fruits.

Roll everything generously in powder. Bon appetit!

Recipe 3, step by step: candied pumpkin in the oven

Candied pumpkin with a light citrus aroma is a delicious natural treat without the addition of dyes or preservatives.

• Cinnamon (in sticks) - 1 pc.
• Orange - 1 piece
• Water - 700 ml
• Sugar - 1 kg
• Pumpkin - 1 kg
• Cloves - 2 pcs.

Peel and pulp the pumpkin, cut into small pieces (about 1x2 cm).

In a large saucepan, cook syrup from sugar and water. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves to sugar syrup. Squeeze the juice from the orange and add it to the syrup along with the zest. Bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, remove pan from heat, cool to room temperature.

Repeat this procedure 3 more times - bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, remove from heat, cool.

Then place the pumpkin pieces on baking parchment and dry in the oven at 50 degrees with a fan.

My oven heats up to at least 160 degrees, so I dried it at room temperature for 3 days.

Roll the finished candied fruits in powdered sugar. Store in a sealable glass container at room temperature.

Recipe 4: how to make candied pumpkin (with photo)

Candied pumpkin is delicious either alone or as a snack with tea; You can decorate cakes with them, add them to baking dough along with raisins and dried fruits, soak biscuits with syrup, and put it in tea instead of sugar. And if you preserve candied fruits in syrup, you will get a very beautiful amber jam.

Preparing candied pumpkin is quite time-consuming and takes two to three days, but it is absolutely not tiring, since your participation only requires four times five minutes. Plus, chop the pumpkin first and roll in powdered sugar at the end of cooking. So, while the season of the red autumn beauty pumpkin lasts, I recommend preparing a simple treat for your family - it’s much healthier than store-bought candied fruits!

The best pumpkins for making candied fruits are nutmeg pumpkins - those that are shaped like bottles: they have the sweetest and brightest pulp. However, you can try making a delicacy from round pumpkins.

• 400 g raw pumpkin;
• 200 g sugar (1 glass);
• Half a lemon;
• 1 apple;
• Cinnamon stick;
• 1/3 – ½ glass of water;
• 1.5-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.

Peel the pumpkin, rinse and cut into cubes about 2 by 2 cm. You should not make the pieces too small - after boiling, the candied fruits can turn out too dry and hard, but we need soft and elastic ones. It is more convenient to take the pulp from the long end of the pumpkin, and use the round part for other recipes - for example, pumpkin muffins or porridge.

Wash the lemon, thoroughly rubbing the peel with a brush under running water. hot water– to wash off the layer of wax that is sometimes used to cover citrus fruits for preservation during transportation. Then steam with boiling water for 5-7 minutes - the bitterness will go away from the zest, and the aromatic lemon peel can be added to the syrup.

We will also wash the apple and remove the peel from it - this is exactly what is needed for the recipe. For what? Apple skin contains pectin - a natural gelling element that will help candied fruits acquire the correct structure: not boil down in syrup, but become like marmalade.

Pour pumpkin cubes into an enamel or stainless pan, add apple peel and lemon, cut into thin slices - I like this option better than grated zest and squeezed juice. Then the translucent sweet and sour slices are great to add to tea, and they are also delicious on their own and reminiscent of sweet lemon chips.

Fill the contents of the pan with sugar and put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, but preferably overnight. The pumpkin will release juice, the sugar will melt, and syrup will form in the saucepan.

Add a little water - so much so that the workpieces are completely covered with it - and place it on the stove. Heat without a lid over medium-low heat, bringing to a boil. When the syrup boils, note the time and boil for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside until completely cooled - this is important! If you are impatient and do not wait until the syrup and candied fruit preparations have completely cooled down and start heating them again, there is a risk that the pieces will boil. You will get jam, but not candied fruits... Therefore, we wait patiently for 3-4 hours - you can safely forget about candied fruits for now and go for a walk in the autumn park!

Then heat the syrup a second time, boil for five minutes, let cool. Repeat a total of 3-4 times. Gradually, the syrup becomes thicker, and the pumpkin cubes become more transparent.

At this stage, you can stop and preserve the candied fruits in syrup, obtaining a jam similar to “pumpkin honey” with pieces of pulp. If you prefer “candy”, then continue!

At the end of cooking, there is noticeably less syrup; Its thickness is reminiscent of fresh honey. After boiling the candied fruits for the 4th time, we catch them with a slotted spoon without waiting for them to cool down - when hot, the syrup is more liquid and it is easier to drain it. Having taken out a portion of candied fruits on a slotted spoon, wait for the syrup to drain, and then transfer them to a plate.

Leave for a couple of hours - during this time the syrup remaining on the pumpkin pieces will drain onto the plate. We transfer the candied fruits onto parchment paper, at a distance of a couple of centimeters from each other, in one layer. The candied fruits are almost ready, all that remains is to dry them so that excess moisture evaporates.

There are two ways to dry candied fruits: fast and slow. The first one is suitable for you if you have an air fryer, electric dryer or convection oven, which can be set to low temperatures. It should be dried at a low temperature so as not to overdry, otherwise the candied fruits will become very hard (not chewable). For different ovens, the temperature and time vary: from 50°C with the door closed to 90-100°C with the door ajar; from 2-3 to 4 hours.

I prefer natural way drying at room temperature - you definitely won’t dry it out. Having laid out the candied fruits on parchment, put them in a dry place and leave them until the morning. If the kitchen is warm and dry, they are ready the next day. If still too wet, turn over to the other side; if necessary, change the parchment and leave for another half day.

We check by sight and touch: the finished candied fruits are elastic, soft in the middle, still a little sticky on the outside - do not dry them too much, otherwise the powder will not stick.

That's how beautifully homemade candied pumpkin glows in the sun!

Now you can roll them on all sides in powdered sugar. Thin and delicate powder is better suited for this purpose than granulated sugar: the smallest “specks of dust” stick to the surface of candied fruit better than large sugar crystals, and when poured into a storage container, they do not allow the pieces to stick together into one large candied fruit.

You can store candied pumpkin all winter in a hermetically sealed container - for example, in glass jars with screw caps.

Or in syrup, like jam - then we omit the stages of drying and rolling in powder.

To soak the cakes, dilute the syrup with boiled water 1:1.

With such “pieces of sunshine” the autumn will be fine and the winter will be warm!

Recipe 5: delicious candied pumpkin (step by step)

Recipe for candied pumpkin - a tasty and healthy treat. These are a kind of gummies, without a pronounced pumpkin smell, with a light caramel aroma and a very pleasant elastic texture. Not cloying, moderately sweet homemade candied fruits - like very tasty and high-quality candies.

• Pumpkin – 400 g
• Lemon (zest and juice) - ½ pc.
• Water – 500 ml
• Sugar - 500 g
• Powdered sugar - to taste

To make homemade candied pumpkin, first prepare all the ingredients.

Peel the pumpkin, cut into cubes or slices.

Place a pan of water on the fire, add lemon zest and lemon juice. Add sugar.

When the water boils, add the pumpkin pieces. Cook for 5 minutes.

Then remove from heat, cool (to about 50-60 degrees) and repeat the procedure 2 more times.

Cool the pumpkin completely in the syrup. Then place the pumpkin on a sieve to drain all the liquid.

Place the pumpkin slices on parchment and leave to dry for 72 hours.

In three days, the candied pumpkin will be ready.

Sprinkle the candied pumpkin with powdered sugar, stir and you can start tasting. Bon Appetit everyone!

Recipe 6: Candied pumpkin with lemon in the oven

Preparing candied pumpkin at home is extremely simple, and even if you have never made this delicacy, you will definitely get it right the first time. Homemade candied fruits will be much tastier than store-bought ones. These fruit and berry marmalades are prepared in two stages: first, they are boiled on the stove in sugar syrup, then dried in an electric dryer or oven. Candied pumpkin fruits turn out sweet, slightly crispy, not tough, no matter how you prepare them, the main thing is to correctly observe the proportions of the ingredients.

• 1 kg pumpkin;
• 1 kg sugar;
• 1 lemon;
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon;
• 100 ml water.

Cut the lemons into slices. We will use lemons with aromatic peel - there is a lot of zest essential oil, which will give candied fruits an incredibly appetizing aroma. And the lemon will prevent the pumpkin from boiling, thanks to it the candied fruits will turn out whole and beautiful. But be careful with the lemon - if you use more than what is called for in the recipe, the sugary fruit pieces may turn out rubbery.

Place the lemon and spices in a saucepan. We take enameled or stainless steel. Add 100 ml of water.

Boil for 1-2 minutes over low or medium heat. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and does not stick to the bottom.

In order to prepare delicious candied pumpkin, you will need ripe fruits with dense pulp. You need a “golden mean”: pumpkin that is not too soft and not too hard. Pumpkin varieties - any, especially tasty candied fruits are obtained from nutmeg (elongated) varieties. But round pumpkins also turn out delicious. Cut the pumpkin into slices, as in the step-by-step photo.

Place the pumpkin pieces in another pan and pour in the sugar syrup and lemon.

Place on low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. If you cook pumpkin for a long time and over high heat, there is a chance that even pieces may become loose or turn into porridge. Remove the pan from the stove and leave to cool. It is advisable to leave for 3-4 hours, or overnight. The pumpkin should be soaked in syrup, the pieces will wrinkle slightly.

Boil the pumpkin for 15-20 minutes over medium heat, then cool completely again.

The cooled candied fruits turned bright orange.

And once again we repeat the boiling-cooling procedure. There should be 3 approaches in total, during which time the slices will be thoroughly saturated with sugar syrup, change color, and become shiny. Now about the spices. I used cinnamon in the recipe - it gives the delicacy a simply magical aroma, and it perfectly emphasizes the taste of pumpkin. It can be added at this stage, or you can mix it with powdered sugar and roll the finished candied fruits for better storage.

The sugar syrup became very thick and a little sticky. We won't need it anymore, but we can use it to make, for example, marmalade, or simply add tea instead of sugar.

Remove the pumpkin pieces from the syrup and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Tip: Remove the candied fruits immediately from the hot syrup using a slotted spoon and a tablespoon. Cold syrup is much more difficult to drain. You don't have to throw away the lemon from the syrup! It can also be dried and then added to tea.

Carefully fill the entire pan. This quantity of products makes 1 large baking sheet and 1 small one. There is no need to place the slices very tightly together - they may stick together.

Dry the pieces in the oven at 50-60 degrees for 3-6 hours, depending on the size, then you can leave them in the kitchen. Should not be dried at high temperatures: this way you will only spoil the candied fruits, they will burn and it will be impossible to chew them. You need to cook candied fruits in an electric dryer for 12-18 hours and constantly monitor so that the sugar does not burn and the slices do not turn brown. Ready candied fruits are easily removed from the parchment.

To store candied fruits better, roll them in powdered sugar and cinnamon. You can also use starch, but then roll the pumpkin first in cinnamon and then in starch. True, the slices don’t look so appetizing in this form.

This is how delicious candied pumpkin turns out without powdered sugar. Bon appetit!

Recipe 7: how to make candied pumpkin

Candied pumpkin is a real sweet for the little ones. Preparing dried vegetables is very simple and even despite the long process of boiling and cooling the pumpkin pieces. After all, after cooking, you and your whole family can enjoy this natural dish with tea, and as a filling in all kinds of baked goods, and just like that, instead of sucking sweets. Try it, I'm sure you will like this fragrant, sweet dish.

• Pumpkin 1 kilogram
• Dried cloves (buds) 2 pieces
• Large orange 1 piece
• Sugar 1 kilogram 200 grams
• Cinnamon spice in sticks 2 pieces
• Purified water 700 milliliters

First of all, rinse the pumpkin under running water and then place it on a cutting board. Using a knife, peel the vegetable and then cut it into two halves. Now, using a tablespoon, we clean the inside of the pumpkin from the pulp and seeds, since we won’t need them. Cut it into small pieces, approximately in length and width 2.5-3 centimeters each. Transfer the pumpkin pieces into a deep bowl.

Rinse the orange under running water and place on a cutting board. Using a knife, cut the fruit into two halves and then squeeze out the juice from each part using a juicer.

Pour purified water into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. As soon as the liquid boils, turn the heat to low and pour sugar into the pan. Stirring constantly with a tablespoon, cook the syrup until smooth and thick. After this, turn off the burner and proceed to the process of preparing candied fruit.

Place the chopped pumpkin in a deep saucepan. Immediately after this, strain the sugar syrup into the same container through a sieve. For this process, you can help yourself with a tablespoon. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Then turn the heat to low and continue cooking the dish for another 5 minutes.

Then turn off the burner and set the pumpkin pieces boiled in sugar syrup aside to cool to room temperature. And now the most important stage of preparing candied fruits begins. Add a couple of cinnamon sticks, clove buds and freshly squeezed orange juice to the pan with them. Mix everything well with a tablespoon and place the container back on medium heat. After the mass boils, turn the heat back to low and cook the candied fruits for 5 minutes. Then turn off the burner and cool the dish back to room temperature.

Important: repeat this procedure 6-7 times until the pumpkin pieces become translucent. After last time cool the candied fruits again to room temperature and transfer them to a colander. Leave the chopped pumpkin in this state over the pan so that all the syrup drains from the vegetable.

Now we cover the baking tray with baking paper and place the candied fruits on it. We dry the sweet dish either at room temperature (this is if it is still a warm season of the year) or in the oven. To do this, heat it to a temperature of 50°C, place the baking sheet in the oven and dry the candied fruits with the door open until they wrinkle and become dry. Immediately after this, the dried pumpkin can be transferred to a glass jar or food bag and stored at room temperature for an unlimited amount of time. Attention: you must store candied fruits in a closed container so that the dish does not absorb moisture and does not get soggy.

Candied pumpkin fruits are very sweet, juicy and aromatic. A delicate orange note and a cinnamon aftertaste give this dried vegetable a refined and unique taste. The main thing is that such candied fruits can be easily given to children as a natural sweet. Enjoy your meal!