Turn lemons into a beautiful garnish for cakes, cupcakes, tarts, and more with these easy to make Candied Lemon Slices!
If you are searching for the perfect way to decorate your lemon dessert, these Candied Lemon Slices are exactly what you are looking for! Not only are they a pretty way to adorn your cakes or bars, they are also incredibly easy to make.
I love using lemon slices to top lemon-flavoured treats but using fresh lemons tends to leech out more tart juice than I want. Sure, those slices look pretty but after all of that work to whip up the perfect dessert, I am not exactly thrilled at the thought of excess lemon juice seeping into it and affecting the perfect balance of flavours. Candied lemon slices are my solution to this problem!
Candied Lemon Slices are gorgeous to look at and make the perfect garnish! Since they are simmered in a syrup and then dried out, they don’t seep out excess liquids into desserts!
Did I mention that you can eat these candied lemon slices as is? While I usually use them as garnishes, you can enjoy them as a candy. You can also use this recipe to candy other citrus fruit too. Got to love homemade citrus candy!
Ingredients needed for Candied Lemon Slices
Just 3 ingredients are needed to make this recipe- and 1 of them is water!
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 lemons
How to make Candied Lemon Slices
- Slice the lemons thinly using a mandoline or a sharp knife. Set aside.
- Add the sugar and water to a skillet or saucepan with a wide bottom and bring to a simmer.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, add the lemon slices. Simmer the lemons for 20 minutes, flipping once.
- Remove the lemon slices and place them on a wire rack or a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Let them dry overnight or, alternatively, you can bake them at 170F for about an hour. [Note: even once dried, the lemon slices will feel sticky to the touch].
Other citrus fruit you can use this method with:
- limes
- oranges
- grapefruit
- blood oranges
How to use this recipe:
- Snack on them for a nice sweet and tart treat!
- Add to a cup of hot tea for a sweet, lemony addition.
- Use them to top cakes like Lemon Cheesecake!
- Top cupcakes with them.
- Garnish lemon bars with quartered slices.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
-Cathy
Desserts this garnish would go great with:
Lemon Ricotta Cake
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Triple Berry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Lemon Bars
Candied Lemon Slices
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 lemons
Instructions
- Slice the lemons thinly using a mandoline or a sharp knife. Set aside. [Note: if your lemons have seeds, you can carefully poke them out with the tip of a knife.]
- Add the sugar and water to a skillet or saucepan with a wide bottom and bring to a simmer.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, add the lemon slices. Simmer the lemons for 20 minutes, flipping once.
- Remove the lemon slices and place them on a wire rack or a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Let them dry overnight or, alternatively, you can bake them at 170F for about an hour. [Note: even once dried, the lemon slices will feel sticky to the touch].
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
How can the candy citrus slices be stored or canned or frozen or dried?
Hi Deborah! I personally let them dry at room temperature the day I make them and then I transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge. I usually make these to garnish cupcakes or lemon cheesecake so I use them up within days of making them myself. I have not personally canned or frozen them for long term storage so I am not sure about long term storage.