Skip to Content

Mandarin Liqueur and Candied Mandarin Peels

Mandarin Liqueur and Candied Mandarin Peels

Sharing is caring!

 

Mandarin Liqueur or Mandarincello is a very simple spirit made by the infusion of mandarins in neutral alcohol. The quality comes entirely from the quality of the fruit, as each variety has its own distinct taste.

The common mandarins we grow are very aromatic and very flavourful, so that all goes in the drink.

Make sure to use organic and unwaxed mandarins.

tsipouro

The alcohol to be use must be a neutral spirit.  You can read more details in my recipe for Cherry Pit Liqueur.

I used Tsipouro, which is another Greek pomace (the solids that remain after the production of wine) drink.

Mandarincello liqueur

 

As I said in my previous posts for Mandarin Marlalade and Mandarin Cake, we do have a lot of mandarins, so I made a lot of recipes. I also made this Mandarincello, which is a Mandarin Liqueur.

Mandarins

There are many ways to make liqueurs but this time I made the mandarin liqueur using the whole fruit.

I filled a big glass jar with mandarins, poked them and then poured the alcohol on top to cover them.    I stored it in the cupboard and let them steep in the alcohol, for 18 days.  The more you leave them, the better.  If  I was not in a hurry to finish the drink, I may have left it more but the result shows that they were more than enough.

Poking the mandarins

After removing them from the alcohol, I squeezed out the juice.  The juice, which was extracted from the fruit was 2 1/8 cups and I used it to make the syrup, which not only makes the colour more vivid but also adds a wonderful, more intense taste to the drink.

You must be wondering what happens to the mandarins after staying in the alcohol for so long?

Well, they are usually discarded.

Isn’t it a pity to discard the peel, especially if it is organic and unwaxed like ours?

As nothing goes wasted in my kitchen, I thought of a way to make good use of them, so I made these delicious and addictive mandarin candied peels, which have a mild, boozy aftertaste.

Home made Mandarin liqueur image

Mandarin Liqueur

Preparation time:  10 minutes

Steeping time:  1 month

Cooking time:  15 minutes

Makes:  about 2 litres

18 Mandarins
1 ½ litres Tsipouro (or if your cannot find tsipouro, use vodka)
!Syrup:
2 kilos sugar + 1 ½ cups
2 1/8 cups mandarin juice (extracted from the fruit)
5 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
½ lemon (1/8 cup or 30 ml) juice

Directions:

Wash the mandarins and drain.
Make a few holes by poking them with a fork or skewer and put them in a big glass jar.
Add the alcohol, close tightly with the lid and place the jar in a cupboard and let them steep for 18 – 30 days.

(At this point if you do not want to make the candied mandarin peels, you extract the juice and just cook the syrup for ten minutes.  You then mix the syrup with the leftover alcohol).
Remove mandarins from the alcohol and extract the juice. Remove the pith from mandarins and cut into 1 cm sticks.
Put the mandarin juice, mandarin peels, sugar, water and cinnamon and bring to a boil. When it begins to create froth, turn off the heat before it overflows. Leave it on the ceramic stove until it cools*.
Bring to a boil again, lower heat and boil for 5 more minutes. Leave it on the ceramic stove until it cools. Boil again for a few more times until the peels are soft.
Add the lemon juice and mix.
Remove the peels and cinnamon stick and set aside until it cools.
Pass it through a sieve or thin mesh (I use a coffee filter) in order to strain the syrup.
Mix it with the alcohol and bottle.
Store in a cupboard.
Drink cold but not iced for best effect.

 

Making candied mandarin peels

Candied Mandarin Peels

Ingredients:

  • Cooked mandarin peels
  • 1 cup sugar

Directions:

  1. Drain the peels and dip them in sugar.
  2. Place them in a single layer and let them dry well before storing in an air-tight container.

Candied Mandarin Peels

Eat them as they are, use them in cakes or cookies or you can also dip them in chocolate, as I did with Orange Peels and decorate your desserts, as I did with the Whoopie Pies.

Whoopie Pies with candied chocolate peels

While I was still writing this post I looked in the cupboard to see if I had any orange preserve to make some, as I wanted to take some new photos to update my older post.  I only had some of the Orange Preserve in slices, which I did not want to waste, but I did find a whole jar of Watermelon Rind Preserve, which must be more than three years old and perfectly preserved.  I also do have a lot of bergamot preserve which I made recently together with some Bergamot Marmalade (which I hope to post soon), as it is my daughter’s favourite but she prefers it without the chocolate, so  I just made a few pieces for us.  However, as the preserve was made in a roll I could not make any sticks, so I made a few round slices.  I also had some coconut which I added on top of the chocolate.

collage chocolate coated watermelon and bergamot
I had a bar (125 grams) of couverture chocolate which I melted over a water bath and mixed in some cinnamon.  Nothing else.  I used an ice tong to hold one edge, dipped it in the chocolate, let it drip and then in the coconut.  I put them on parchment paper and the chocolate hardened again in less than an hour.  The bergamot ones were all coated with chocolate.

 

chocolate coated watermelon rinds

Mandarin Liqueur and chocolate watermelon rinds2

Mandarin Liqueur and Candied Mandarin Peels

Yield: 2 litres
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Mandarin Liqueur or Mandarincello is a very simple spirit made by the infusion of mandarins in neutral alcohol. The quality comes entirely from the quality of the fruit, as each variety has its own distinct taste.

Ingredients

  • 18 Mandarins
  • 1 ½ litres Tsipouro (or if your cannot find tsipouro, use vodka)

Syrup:

  • 2 kilos sugar + 1 ½ cups
  • 2 1/8 cups mandarin juice (extracted from the fruit)
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • ½ lemon (1/8 cup or 30 ml) juice

Instructions

  1. Wash the mandarins and drain.
  2. Make a few holes by poking them with a fork or skewer and put them in a big glass jar.
  3. Add the alcohol, close tightly with the lid and place the jar in a cupboard and let them steep for 18 - 20 days. (At this point if you do not want to make candied mandarin peels, you extract the juice and just prepare the syrup and mix with the leftover alcohol).
  4. Remove mandarins from the alcohol and extract the juice. Remove the pith from mandarins and cut into 1 cm sticks.
  5. Put the mandarin juice, mandarin peels, sugar, water and cinnamon and bring to a boil. When it begins to create froth, turn off the heat before it overflows. Leave it on the ceramic stove until it cools*.
  6. Bring to a boil again, lower heat and boil for 5 more minutes. Leave it on the ceramic stove until it cools. Boil again for a few more times until the peels are soft.
  7. Add the lemon juice and mix.
  8. Remove the peels and cinnamon stick and set aside until it cools.
  9. Pass it through a sieve or thin mesh (I use a coffee filter) in order to strain the syrup.
  10. Mix it with the alcohol and bottle.
  11. Store in a cupboard.
  12. Drink cold but not iced for best effect.

Notes

*A ceramic or inductive stove takes about 15 - 20 minutes to cool, so when turning off the heat it still continues cooking. If you are using gas, then you will need more time to cook the peels. Test and see if they are soft.

Another way to go is to boil the peels in water until soft and then add them to the syrup. The peels and syrup will be ready when it reaches 105o C / 220o F.

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Liqueur and chocolate watermelon rinds

Other relevant recipes:

Cherry Pit Liqueur

Orange and other Citrus Liqueur

Espresso Coffee Liqueur

Strawberry Liqueur

Caramelized and Candied Orange and Lemon Peels

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!

Sharing is caring!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Lila

Sunday 7th of May 2017

I wanna make it specially Candied Mandarin Peels :) We want more articles like this.

Mark

Wednesday 22nd of February 2017

Every Ingredient is very important while making any food or liquor. This is really fine recipe I tried, it was great I wanted to share with photo but its unavailable here. It was really fine making.

Marko

Tuesday 21st of February 2017

It looks like yummy! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Esther

Tuesday 14th of February 2017

Mandarin Liqueur and Candied Mandarin Peels, i will also try this. amazing

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Privacy Policy · Copyright
Skip to Recipe