The first thing we do after tasting the wonderful citrus fruit that is the clementine is to get rid of its peels. But it turns out that these barks can serve a plethora of uses that will make your daily life easier. Let’s find them.
Whether in cooking, cleaning or beauty, clementine zest offers unsuspected and useful everyday uses that it would be a shame not to exploit. Here are some of the most practical.
Mandarin – Source: spm
8 inventive ways to use clementine zest
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Make candied bark
candied bark – Source: spm
With clementine zest, you can make delicious treats that can be eaten as a snack or toppings for desserts and cocktails . For example, you can make a succade which consists of candied citrus peel which you can of course prepare with orange, lemon and lime zest.
To prepare your candied clementine peel, start by removing the skin from 2 to 3 clementines, including their marrow, then cut them into thin strips. Meanwhile, make a mixture of 3 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar in a pot to boil. Then add the clementine strips and over low heat, bring to the boil again, simmering for 45 minutes. Once the peels have become soft , take them out and dip them in sugar. Finally, leave them on a bed of parchment paper for 24 to 48 hours.
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Prepare a clementine essential oil
Citrus fruits like clementine work to prepare essential oils. To use them in this way, remove the peels without neglecting the marrow and then let them dry for a few hours. Cut them into small pieces and then place them in a jar filled with alcohol.
Leave the ingredients in the container for 3 days and be sure to stir it regularly. Also leave the jar open so that the alcohol can evaporate. You thus obtain a liquid as an essential oil that you can pour into a diffuser and use in different ways to perfume the ambient air or even add to the bath water.
You can also use clementine zest as an infusion with cooking oil to enhance the taste of your dishes. Hence the interest of keeping citrus zest on hand. To do this, make a mixture of three tablespoons of zest and a cooking oil to pour into a glass container. Allow 2 weeks to pass during which it is best to shake the glass occasionally before straining the zest. You will get an excellent oil for salads or to enjoy with gingerbread.
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Make Clementine Sugar or Salt
For your pastries, clementine sugar can be a good alternative to the usual sugar, whether to prepare your favorite cakes, cookies or muffins. To concoct it, just mix a spoon of clementine zest in the equivalent of a cup of sugar. Pour everything into a bowl, mix firmly with your hands until a homogeneous whole is obtained and oil begins to exude from the peels.
As for the salt, dry the zests, then mix them with an equal amount of salt. You get an interesting additive for your vegetable dishes, pasta or even for your soups and stews.
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Deodorize
Simmer clementine peel in a pot of water, keeping an eye on the container, then pour the solution into a diffuser. You get an air freshener that is as effective as salt and lemon.
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Enhance the taste of liqueurs
Clementine peels and green tea – Source: spm
For your teas and cocktails, zest is an excellent additive that will enhance the taste of your drinks with a subtle aroma. To do this, remove as much of the marrow as possible and then dry the peels before storing them. A simple and practical trick to enhance your favorite cocktails.
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Add scent to your natural cleaning products
If you are used to cleaning with white vinegar and want to add a pleasant smell, mix the clementine zest with vinegar and then a week later, add an equal part of water. All you have to do is pour everything into a spray bottle to enjoy both cleanliness and fragrance.
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Scrub the body
Renowned in cosmetics, the vitamin C that clementine zest contains is good for the skin. These zests will be used to make effective scrubs. To do this, simply mix salt and clementine zest to create your homemade body scrub solution.
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Season with sour pepper
For delicious preparations, seasoning is a key element of gastronomy. You can make your own seasoning by mixing pepper with finely ground clementine zest and then adding a little salt.
So many tricks that prove that clementine zest has more than one trick up its sleeve. From now on, you have to think before throwing them away. Same for lemon peels.
