Candied Carrots
These candied carrots are easy to make and fun to use as cake decorations.
Candied Carrots
Here's What You'll Need
INGREDIENTS:
1 large whole carrot
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
EQUIPMENT:
Vegetable Peeler
Small Sauce Pan
Baking sheet with parchment or silicone liner
Extra baking sheet, cutting board, or plate
Strainer
Silicone Spatula
If making curls, you need something round to wrap the carrots around (like a large straw, spoon handle, or chopsticks)
Step 1: Wash your hands with soap and water
Step 2: Mise En Place & preheat oven to 225 F
Make sure you have everything you need ready to go
Step 3: Using a vegetable peeler, peel slowly from one end of the carrot to the other making long strips
Always peel away from yourself. The closer you get to the center of the carrot, the wider your strips will be. Try not to stop and start, just peel from top to bottom with one fluid motion.
Step 4: Combine water and sugar in sauce pan and bring to a simmer
Combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in your sauce pan and heat on medium heat until simmering. The sugar should dissolve as it heats up, you can give it a quick stir to help, but you don't need to constantly stir.
You are making simple syrup
Step 5: Add carrots & simmer for 15 minutes
Add in all of your carrots at once and reduce the heat to medium low. If any carrots aren't covered by simple syrup, gently press them down with a silicone spatula
Just added
After 5 minutes
After 15 minutes
Step 6: Remove from heat and drain excess liquid
Step 7: Gently lay strips flat on lined baking sheet
Make sure your carrots aren't touching or folded over on themselves, you may not be able to unattach them later. If there are any puddles of simple syrup, wipe them up with a paper towel.
Step 8: Bake at 225 for 30 minutes
We are baking at a low temperature to gently dehydrate the carrots and the remaining simple syrup. This will leave us with carrots that can be shaped, and will keep the shape when cooled.
Step 9: While carrots are baking, set up an additional baking sheet, plate, or cutting board where carrots can cool & whatever you're using to shape them
When the carrots are warm, they'll be flexible, but as they cool the sugar will harden and the carrots will become crunchy. You'll need to work quickly when shaping them, so make sure you have everything set up and ready to go!
Here's my baked carrots, you can let them cool like this and have fun eating them, or you can shape them.
Carrot Curls: Carefully (remember, they just came out of the oven!) wrap a carrot strip around a straw or spoon handle and set it aside to cool. It only takes a few seconds to cool.
When you remove the straw, your carrot should stay shaped.
Carrot roses
If you don't have anything to wrap your carrots around, you can wrap them around themselves and gently pinch the bottom to make a rose shape.