Lemon Candies

With a flury of company here this week (before, during and after my graduation), I whipped up one of my favourite summer desserts, Panna Cotta, to serve this week. I usually serve Panna Cotta with fresh fruit and some sort of fruit sauce (this time a mix of mango and fresh local nectarines, blueberries and strawberries with lemon balm from our garden) and I like to have some sort of garnish. Candied lemons fit the bill- very pretty, and really delicious.

1 lemon, thinly and very evenly sliced
3 cups water, divided

ice water bath
1 cup sugar

Thinly slice lemon. Because I don't have a mandoline, I used two skewers to guide my knife (which was newly sharpened) and it worked great.  Discard seeds and ends of rind.

Bring a medium saucepan of water (2 cups) to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and add lemon slices; stir until softened, about 2 minutes. Drain, and immediately plunge slices into ice-water bath. Drain.  

Bring sugar and remaining 1 cup of water to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves. When liquid is clear and bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low. Add lemon slices, arranging them in one layer. Simmer (do not let boil) until rinds are translucent, about 1 hour.

Transfer to a cooling rack (sprayed with cooking spray so the lemons do not stick). Let stand about 24 hours to set. They will still be a little sticky, but firm. Store between layers of wax paper in an airtight container. I also saved the syrup to use in homemade iced tea and it was delicious!