Dried Citrus Slices — The Perfect Homemade Teacher Gift (and Cocktail Garnish)

Dried Citrus Slices — The Perfect Homemade Teacher Gift (and Cocktail Garnish)

Perfect for your next Lemon and Lavender Cake — and yes, we do have the best vanilla cake mix for exactly that. But these dried citrus slices are also absolutely stunning on a cocktail, an iced tea, or a mocktail. Whatever your preference.

This is one of my favourite pre-holiday recipes, and I'll be honest — I do sample a few new cocktail recipes around this time of year, just to make sure they taste right. Quality control is important.

If you're looking for the perfect teacher gift or Christmas gift, this is it. A beautiful jar of dried citrus slices paired with a Flour and Dough baking mix is something any teacher would genuinely love — something they can use to unwind after a full day with kids. Thoughtful, beautiful, and completely homemade.

What Citrus to Use

• Lemons
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Limes
• Whatever citrus you have growing in abundance or choose to use

You can dry a mixture of all of them at the same time — they all dry at the same rate, and the variety looks stunning together in a jar.

A Note on Equipment

There really is no big tip or trick to dried citrus — but the one thing I've found is that the choice between baking paper, a tray, or straight onto the rack makes a difference.

I use oven racks and cooling racks for the best airflow. However, my oven racks are quite wide and smaller lemon slices tend to slip through the gaps. So I start with baking paper on the rack, then remove it at around the 1.5 hour mark — they just don't dry out enough with the paper on the whole time. They need heat and air from all sides to dry properly.

If you're using baking trays, always use baking paper — the slices will stick to the tray as they dry out.

One more thing: if you have a humidifier running in your home, be aware it can prevent the slices from drying properly no matter how long you leave them in. I tried making grapefruit and lemon slices with ours on and they just wouldn't dry. Turn it off for the day if you can!

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 90°C.
2. Slice your citrus as thinly as possible — aim for around 0.5mm and try to keep them consistent. A mandolin is ideal for this, but a sharp knife and a steady hand works perfectly well too.
3. Depending on the size of your slices, either place them directly onto your oven racks or onto baking paper on the racks.
4. Place the racks back into the oven and set a timer for 1.5 hours.
5. At the 1.5 hour mark, remove the baking paper if you used it, flip all the slices, and return to the oven for another 1.5 hours.
6. After the time is up, check each slice. Remove the ones that are done — they should be dry, slightly translucent, and a lovely deep caramel colour at the edges. Return any that are still yellow, sticky, or soft, and give them an additional 30 minutes at a time until done.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before storing.
8. Store in an airtight container in the pantry.

For Gifting

Bottle them up in a nice glass jar. Add a small handmade label or sticker to the front, and pair with a Flour and Dough baking mix for the most beautiful, thoughtful teacher gift. A jar of dried citrus alongside one  of our baking mixes is a gift any baker — or any teacher who deserves a relaxing weekend bake — would absolutely love.