Candied Lemon-Peel
12 fresh, thick-skinned lemons.
4 lbs. loaf sugar.
A little powdered alum.
3 cups clear water.
Cut the peel from the lemons in long, thin strips, and lay in strong salt and water all night. Wash them in three waters next morning, and boil them until tender in soft water. They should be almost translucent, but not so soft as to break. Dissolve a little alum—about half a teaspoonful, when powdered—in enough cold water to cover the peel, and let it lie in it for two hours. By this time the syrup should be ready. Stir the sugar into three cups of water, add the strained juice of three lemons and boil it until it “ropes” from the end of the spoon. Put the lemon-peels into this, simmer gently half an hour; take them out and spread upon a sieve. Shake, not hard, but often, tossing up the peels now and then, until they are almost dry. Sift granulated sugar over them and lay out upon a table spread with a clean cloth. Admit the air freely, and, when perfectly dry, pack in a glass jar.