Mixed Peel substitute

Best substitute

Candied orange peel, or half candied orange and half candied lemon

Use the same amount by weight as the mixed peel you are replacing

Best for hot cross buns

Close match

Candied orange peel on its own is the closest thing you can buy and goes in at the same weight; a half-and-half mix of candied orange and candied lemon peel is even better. If you have no candied fruit at all, the practical fix is zest plus bulk: for every 100g of mixed peel, use the finely grated zest of one large orange and one lemon along with 100g of sultanas or chopped dried apricots to keep the amount of fruit in the recipe the same. Chunky Seville orange marmalade is the third good option, at about a tablespoon per 25g of peel, with a tablespoon of the recipe's liquid taken out to compensate.

Other mixed peel substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Citrus zest plus extra dried fruit
Taste and texture differ
Use Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon plus 100g dried fruit, for every 100g mixed peel
Finely grated fresh orange and lemon rind, with sultanas or chopped apricots to replace the bulk.
What changes
Best for
hot cross buns, fruit cake, simnel cake, bread pudding, scones
Prep. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips before mixing, which pulls the oils out and spreads the flavour right through the dough.
The best answer when you have no candied fruit in the house, and it makes a lot of people's Christmas cake better rather than worse. The zest carries the aromatic citrus oils, which is the part of mixed peel that actually does the flavouring work, and it delivers them fresher and brighter than candied peel does. Two things go missing. There is no bitterness, because candied peel keeps a faint pith bitterness that gives fruit cake its grown-up edge, and there is no chew, which is why the dried fruit matters; leave the bulk out and a bun dough will be short of fruit and the texture will change. Grate on a microplane and take only the coloured layer.
3Chunky Seville orange marmalade
Different texture
Use 1 tbsp for every 25g mixed peel, minus 1 tbsp of the recipe's liquid
A set citrus preserve containing shreds of candied orange rind in bittersweet jelly.
What changes
Best for
Christmas cake, hot cross buns, bread and butter pudding, mincemeat, glazes
Prep. Stir it into the wet ingredients rather than the dry, so it disperses instead of forming sweet pockets.
The closest flavour match of all the swaps, because a proper Seville marmalade has exactly the bittersweet orange character that mixed peel is meant to bring, and thick-cut marmalade even provides shreds of rind. What changes is where the flavour sits: instead of biting into distinct chewy nuggets, the citrus is dispersed through the whole crumb, so the bake tastes more evenly and more strongly of orange. It also brings sugar and water, so reduce the recipe's liquid by a tablespoon for each tablespoon of marmalade and take out a teaspoon of sugar. Avoid sweet breakfast marmalades made with sweet oranges, which have none of the bitterness.
4Homemade candied peel
Close match
Use the same amount from the peel of 2 oranges and 1 lemon
Citrus rind blanched to remove bitterness, then simmered in sugar syrup and dried.
What changes
Best for
Christmas cake, simnel cake, panettone, when shop peel tastes bitter or plasticky, batch baking
Prep. Once dry, chop to a small dice. Toss in a little caster sugar if the pieces are sticking together.
Worth doing once, because homemade peel is genuinely better than the tubs of hard dice, tasting fragrant and gently bitter rather than sharply chemical. Peel two oranges and a lemon in wide strips, taking a little of the white pith with them, and boil the strips in fresh water three times, five minutes each time with a change of water, which is what removes the harsh bitterness. Then simmer them in equal weights of sugar and water for around 45 minutes until translucent, drain, and dry on a rack for a few hours. Choose unwaxed fruit and scrub it first. Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge, where it keeps for weeks.
5Candied citron or candied pineapple
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Other candied fruits made by the same heavy-syrup process.
What changes
Best for
panettone, fruit cake, stollen, mincemeat
Prep. Chop to a small dice and add orange zest alongside.
Structurally identical, so the recipe behaves exactly as written, and both are traditional in continental Christmas baking. Candied citron is the closest of the two, being a citrus peel itself, though it is milder, more perfumed and less bitter than orange peel; it is also often part of commercial mixed peel already. Candied pineapple is sweeter and faintly tropical, which reads slightly oddly in a simnel or hot cross bun but works well enough in a dark fruit cake. With either, add the grated zest of an orange to put back the citrus lift they lack.
6Sultanas, raisins or chopped dried apricots (bulk only)
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Standard dried fruits with soft chew and concentrated sweetness.
What changes
Best for
hot cross buns, fruit scones, bread pudding, rock buns
Prep. Chop apricots to a small dice, and add citrus zest to the dough alongside them.
The honest position on this one is that it keeps the recipe working but abandons the flavour. Weight for weight it is the right bulk, the right chew and roughly the right sweetness, so a bun dough or a fruit cake will rise and bake exactly as it should. But it is the citrus, and specifically the faint bitterness behind the citrus, that makes a hot cross bun taste like a hot cross bun rather than a currant bun. Dried apricots are the best of the three because they at least bring some tartness. If you go this route, always add the grated zest of an orange and a lemon as well, which costs nothing and closes most of the gap.

What is Mixed Peel?

Mixed Peel is Mixed peel, sold as candied peel or mixed candied citrus peel, is the rind of oranges and lemons, sometimes with citron, boiled to soften the bitterness and then simmered in sugar syrup until it turns translucent and chewy, and finally diced small.

Cooking tips

Soften hard peel before you use it. The small dry cubes sold in tubs can be tough enough to stay noticeably chewy after baking. Cover them with a spoonful of hot water, orange juice, tea or brandy for ten minutes, then drain and blot, and they turn tender and taste far less harsh.
Buy candied peel in strips rather than pre-diced when you can, and chop it yourself. The strips are usually moister, more fragrant and less bitter than tubbed dice, largely because there is less cut surface exposed to air, and they are often cheaper by weight.
Rub any zest you add into the sugar with your fingertips before mixing. The oils, which is where nearly all the citrus aroma lives, transfer into the sugar and then disperse through the whole batter or dough. Zest thrown in loose at the end gives you flavour in patches instead of throughout.
Mixed peel is where a fruit cake's bitterness comes from, and bitterness is what stops a very sweet cake tasting flat. If you have replaced it with something sweeter, such as sultanas or candied pineapple, put a little bitterness back with a strip of orange zest, a spoonful of Seville marmalade or a splash of dark rum rather than adding more spice.
Toss peel and any dried fruit in a tablespoon of the recipe's flour before folding it in, taken from the weighed amount rather than added on top. Candied pieces are heavy and sticky and will otherwise sink through a slack batter to the base of the tin.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use orange zest instead of mixed peel?

Yes, and it is the best substitute available if you have no candied fruit, but do it properly. Use the finely grated zest of one large orange and one lemon for every 100g of mixed peel, and add about 100g of sultanas or chopped dried apricots to replace the bulk you have taken out, otherwise a bun dough or fruit cake will be short of fruit and the texture will change. The zest gives you fresher, brighter citrus than candied peel does. What it cannot give you is the gentle pith bitterness or the chewy pieces, so the result tastes cleaner and less traditionally Christmassy.

What is mixed peel doing in hot cross buns and Christmas cake?

It is the aromatic backbone, and it works in three ways. The rind is full of citrus oils, which give the perfumed orange-and-lemon smell you notice when the buns come out of the oven. It carries a faint bitterness from the pith, which is what keeps a very sweet, very spiced cake from tasting cloying and one-dimensional. And because each piece is a chewy sugar-saturated nugget, it adds texture and small pockets of moisture through the crumb. Substitutes that only cover the aroma, such as zest alone, leave a bake that smells right but tastes sweeter and flatter.

Can I just leave mixed peel out?

You can, and plenty of people do because they dislike it, but replace the weight with something rather than simply omitting it. Mixed peel often makes up a decent share of the total fruit, and removing it from a hot cross bun dough or a Christmas cake leaves the mixture wetter and the texture different. Swap in the same weight of sultanas, raisins or chopped dried apricots and add the grated zest of an orange and a lemon, which takes a minute and keeps the citrus character that mixed peel was there to provide.

Is mixed peel the same as candied peel or citrus peel?

Mixed peel and candied peel are the same kind of thing; mixed peel simply means a blend, usually orange and lemon and sometimes citron, while candied peel might be a single fruit. Both are rind cooked in sugar syrup until translucent. Neither is the same as fresh citrus peel or zest, which is raw rind with no sugar, none of the chew and none of the bitterness. If a recipe asks for mixed peel and your packet says candied peel or candied citrus peel, you have the right ingredient.

Why does my mixed peel taste bitter or artificial?

Usually because it is the cheap pre-diced kind and it is old. Tubbed peel dries out and the tiny cubes have a great deal of cut surface, which oxidises and turns harsh, and some brands use lower-grade rind with more pith left on. Two fixes: soak the peel in hot water, orange juice or tea for ten minutes and drain, which removes a surprising amount of the harshness, or buy peel in strips and chop it yourself. Making your own is the reliable answer, and the crucial step is boiling the rind in three changes of fresh water before candying it, because that is what removes the aggressive bitterness.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Mixed Peel substitute

Other mixed peel substitutes

2Citrus zest plus extra dried fruit

3Chunky Seville orange marmalade

4Homemade candied peel

5Candied citron or candied pineapple

6Sultanas, raisins or chopped dried apricots (bulk only)