Poached Lemons

If you're looking to take your recipes to the next level, you've come to the right place! Today, I'll be sharing a fantastic technique for preparing poached or semi-confit lemons, a versatile flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of dishes including chestnut cake, lemon pies, cookies, entremets, and even tiramisu!. This recipe works with oranges too.

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Reasons for Blanching Lemon Peel Starting in Cold Water

Lemon peel contains bitter compounds, particularly in the white pith. Blanching helps to remove these bitter compounds. Starting in cold water and gradually bringing it to a boil helps to draw out the bitterness more effectively than if you were to start in hot water.

Blanching Lemons

Remove lemon stems, cut lemons in half, and divide into large wedges. Cut off membranes and some part of the flesh as well. Remove seeds. Re-scale lemons to make sure you end up having 750/800g. Squeeze out scraps to extract remaining juice. Sieve it and save for later use. Place lemon wedges in a lare pot. Cover lemons with cold water and bring to boil. Drain and repeat once.

Poached Lemons / Cooking Method

Cover lemons with water and sugar. Bring to boil and cook on low simmer for 3 hours; uncovered. Leave lemons in saucepan, and let stand until it comes to room temperature; best overnight. At this juncture, poached or semi-confit lemons can be canned, or stored refrigerated for months.

Poached Lemons / Sous-Vide Method

In a large vacuum packaging bag, add lemons and sugar. Vacuum seal immediately otherwise lemons will begin to render juice which makes it harder to seal; unless you owns a professional grade machine. In a large pot, preheat water first on the stove, and turn off. Set the sous-vide cooking device at 187ºF/86ºC. Immerse bag in hot water and cook for 5 hours. After an hour cooking though, massage the bag to redistribute sugar. Let stand at room temperature for 3 hour prior placing in the refrigerator. Poached lemons can be kept for up to 12 months. Once bag is opened, lemons can be re-vacuumed sealed, or canned, or kept in jar for up to 3 months. The rendered juice from poached lemons can also be used for a lemony simple syrup, sorbet, ice cream, plated dessert inserts... Poached lemons can be used for many pastries such as Lemon-Shaped Dessert, Lemon Ice Cream Tart, Lemon Tart, Ice Creams, Sorbets...

Poached Oranges

For the cooking and sous-vide method, follow the same protocol. However, oranges shall be blanched to soften the skin prior to cook. To blanch orange, put the wedges in a saucepan and cover with cold water along with a generous pinch of salt. Bring to boil and drain. Repeat once if desired with no additional salt. Cook at 190.4ºF/88ºC for 5 hours.

Confit / Candied Lemons / Oranges

Lemon confit or candied are more concentrated in sugar and firmer. They are suitable for panettone, king cakes, and chocolate covered orange peels... Citrus peels can be then cut into small sticks batonnet before been confit.
Combine lemons, water, and sugar in a large saucepan. Simmer gently on very low heat for about 4 hours to fully candy the lemons. The candy thermometer should then read 221ºF/105ºC. Leave the lemon confit in the saucepan with its syrup and allow it to cool at room temperature overnight. Transfer the lemon confit with its syrup into jars.

Storage

Store in a cool, dry place for up to 12 months. For vacuum sealing, drain the lemon slices before bagging them. Refrigerate the vacuum-sealed confit for over a year. Use leftover syrup to moisturize sponges for pastries, or use to sweeten cocktails.

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