Candied Hawthorn Skewers (Strawberry π)
Recently, I went to Beijing, and my kid fell in love with candied hawthorn skewers. After coming back, he still wanted to eat them, so...let's make some! 2021.1.23 Tried making them again, wanted to verify some minor issues mentioned in the comments. Answers can be found in the tips β
Ingredients
Steps
Wash and de-stem the strawberries, then skewer onto bamboo sticks. I used 20cm bamboo sticks, just enough to skewer 3 strawberries.
Find a large plate to place the finished candied skewers. Dab a bit of oil onto kitchen paper.
Spread the oil evenly on the surface of the plate. This is to prevent the candied skewers from sticking.
Pour sugar and water (2:1 ratio) into a pot. It's best to use a pot with a thick bottom to avoid burning the sugar.
Heat on medium heat to dissolve the sugar. During the initial stage, you can stir lightly to ensure even heating and faster dissolving.
After it bubbles and boils, reduce to low heat to caramelize. This process takes time; I spent about ten minutes. During this period, do not stir or shake the pan!
Once the sugar slightly darkens in color and the syrup becomes thick, it's almost done. To test, dip an extra skewer into the syrup as shown, and quickly place it into cold water (see below).
The sugar should crystallize and become brittle when in cold water. If itβs soft, it needs more cooking.
The crystallization should look like this β
Cook until it reaches this color, thick and syrupy, and itβs about ready.
Dip the strawberries into the sugar surface and rotate them continuously to coat evenly. Do not submerge directly into the syrup, as this can lead to uneven coating. Pay special attention to the last strawberry; itβs the hardest π.
Final result β
And there you go β Place the finished strawberry skewers on a plate, wait about 10 minutes for the sugar to harden, and youβre done.
Sugar threads, so delicious π
2021.1.23 Update Tried a mixed fruit version.
Made a random tangled bunch of candied grapes π
Strawberries and blueberries.
Red grapes.