When a recipe calls for “zest” of a citrus fruit, it’s referring to the colorful outer part of the skin, not the inner white part, which is known as the pith.
You can use the zest of oranges, lemons, and limes, among many other citrus fruits, to bake and cook with.
The zest of citrus fruits contains all of the aromatic citrus oils and provides a hint of citrus tang to the recipe.
A simple method of obtaining a fine zest is by rubbing the fruit against the smallest holes of a cheese grater.
Besides Zest, Lemons Have Many Other Uses – The Many Uses Of A Lemon
The Solution To Having Zest On Hand When You Need It
After squeezing or juicing lemons or oranges do not toss the peels.
Freeze the peels or rinds in a freezer bag and whenever you need zest of a lemon or orange, you can grate it from the frozen peels.
The flavor is just the same as if the peel were fresh.
It will save a trip to the store just to buy a citrus fruit for a small amount of zest.
Besides freezing the citrus peelings, here are some other ideas as to what you can do to save zest for baking and cooking.
Read More Here About The Benefits Of The Orange Peel
Blanch The Zest
Immerse peels in cold water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Drain the zest. This technique allows to remove their bitterness.
Make Zest Powder
Set zest ribbons to dry for 2 days. Next, place zest in a preheated oven (250-300 degrees) for 5-10 minutes.
Let cool and grind them into a powder using a mortar or a grinder. Ideal to finely season any recipe calling for zest.
Try some of our favorite recipes using zest.
- Curried Chicken With Coconut Rice & Lime Yogurt Sauce – lime zest
- Pan-Fried Herb Citrus Almond Crusted Chicken Breast – orange zest
- Chicken Potato Leek Soup – lemon zest
- Orange Cranberry Cupcakes – orange zest
More Deliciously Yummy Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake
- Warm Brussels Sprouts & Dilled Potato Salad
- Chocolate Mexican Coffee Cake
- Slow Cooking, is it Safe?
- Chicken Sausage & Tortellini Soup
