Description
These homemade orange and pomegranate pâtes de fruits are the perfect balance of tart and sweet, with a chewy texture and crunchy sugar coating. This classy candy looks as great as it tastes and makes for an impressive edible gift!
Ingredients
For each flavor:
- 2 cups fruit juice (we used orange and pomegranate)
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating
- 3 tablespoons classic pectin*
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Lightly oil an 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch baking dish and line with parchment paper and set aside.
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If you're using freshly-squeezed juice, squeeze and strain your fruit juice. To a heavy-bottomed saucepan about 9 inches in diameter with a candy thermometer attached to the side, add the fruit juice and bring to a simmer.
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In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and pectin, then slowly pour the mixture into the simmering fruit juice, whisking as you go to prevent clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
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Continue cooking over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. Keep cooking until it reaches 223˚F. It will take 15-20 minutes or longer to get to the target temperature.
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Turn off the heat, then add in the lemon juice, stir, and immediately pour into the prepared 8x8 inch baking dish.
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Allow the pâte de fruit to sit uncovered at room temperature for 24-36 hours. A long period of drying out will help prevent weeping (moisture coming out) after they are rolled in sugar.
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Spray a knife with cooking spray or lightly coat with oil and cut the pâte de fruit block into squares that are roughly 1.5-inches x 1 .5-inches. Add about half cup of sugar to a plate and place each square into the sugar, flipping it over and coating all sides.
- Storage: Keep these in an airtight container at room temperature, where they will keep for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
*Pectin: We used powdered original / classic pectin and not low or no sugar added pectin. We haven't tried using liquid pectin, but you can substitute 4 tablespoons of powdered pectin for 6 ounces of liquid pectin. You'll need to add the liquid pectin in after the sugar has reached the right temperature, unlike the powdered pectin, which goes in before.
Temperature is key: Pectin needs to reach about 217˚F-222˚F to gel, and we like to take ours slightly past the upper end of that range to be safe, and hold it there for a few seconds. If you don't get it to this temperature, your pâtes de fruits will not gel correctly. It's very important to use a thermometer to reach the correct temperature.
Let them cure: You can enjoy these right away, but if you want to coat them in sugar without having moisture seep out, you'll need to let these cure at room temperature at least overnight, but ideally 24 to 36 hours.
Coating in sugar: We like the slight granular crunch of the sugar, but it's not completely necessary to coat them. If you are coating them, and you wand an even crunchier bite, use an organic or coarse sugar with even larger grains.
Sour: If you want to turn these confections into a sour treat, mix a little food grade citric acid into the sugar you use to coat your pâtes de fruits.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Curing time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 squares
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 45.1 g
- Sodium: 55.3 mg
- Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 68 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 0.6 g