White Chocolate Candied Lemon Slices

Items Needed:

A sharp knife

A cutting board

A large pan

A spatula

A sheet pan

Wax paper or a silicone mat

A medium pot

A heat-safe medium bowl

A potholder or oven mitt

For the Candied Lemon:

Using a sharp knife and a cutting board, slice two of the lemons into thin slices, no bigger than 1/8 inch thick. Do not slice them in half yet! That comes right before dipping. Just set them aside.

In a large pan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water. Juice the third lemon and add it to the pan, stirring with spatula until sugar is dissolved.

Place lemon slices in the pan, being careful not to overlap them so they cook evenly.

Let the slices simmer, flipping them over every 4 to 5 minutes, until the rind is soft and the flesh of the lemon appears glassy and transparent. Depending on how thick your lemon slices are, this could take 15 to 25 minutes.

As lemon slices are cooking, take out a sheet pan and line it with wax paper or a silicone mat.

Once lemon slices are done, place each slice on the lined sheet pan, making sure none of the slices are touching.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

For Dipping:

Take the lemons out of the fridge and using a sharp knife and cutting board, slice them in half. Place them back in the fridge so they don’t warm up too much as you heat the chocolate.

Put whatever decoration you’re using on your counter, or wherever you’re working, so it’s easily accessible.

Pour about an inch of water in a medium pot on the stove and turn heat to medium. Heat until water is nearly boiling, but not quite.

Place chocolate chips in heat-safe medium-sized bowl.

Put bowl over pot to create a double boiler. You can also place bowl in the water, just make sure no water splashes into the chocolate.

With a spatula, stir the chocolate as it melts, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so no chocolate burns. You will need to continuously stir the chocolate – don’t step away as this will only take a couple minutes.

Once all the chocolate is melted, take the bowl out of the pot using a potholder or oven mitt.

Take the lemon slices out of the fridge. Pick up one of the candied lemon slices with your fingers or a pair of tongs and dip it into the chocolate, leaving about a quarter of the lemon untouched by chocolate. If you have a shallow bowl you will likely need to slowly slide the lemon into the chocolate on its side, in a similar motion to how a person dives into a pool.

Carefully place the dipped lemon slice back onto the lined sheet pan. Repeat the process for 6 or so lemons slices at a time. Once you’ve done a small batch, garnish them by dusting them with flowers, sprinkles, or other decoration. You don’t want to wait and decorate all the lemon slices at once because you want the chocolate to still be warm so the decoration can cling to it.

Repeat the last step for the last of the lemon slices, doing it in batches.

Once all slices are dipped and decorated, place them back in the fridge to harden for at least 15 minutes but longer is better.

Keep slices in the fridge until just before serving, as the chocolate will start to melt quickly once it is out of the fridge.