Marmalade can be made from citrus
fruit - such as lemons, limes, key limes, kumquat,
Buddha’s hands, mandarins, tangelos, calamondins, blood oranges, grapefruit,
tangerines and pomelos. This method results in a delicious marmalade
with no bitter aftertaste.
Decide flavour.
Choose fruit and quantity of peels to
use. More tangy? Add lemon. Use fine slices of peel, or dice/grate the peels
instead. A couple of lemons help boost orange flavours and spices (whole,
infused or dried and ground) add interesting notes to marmalades – try cinnamon
or vanilla bean for example.
Prepare fruit.
Wash fruit, discarding
blemished/damaged areas. Quarter and separate peels from flesh. Simmer peels in
water for 10 minutes (repeat with fresh water) and set aside to cool slightly
then scoop out and discard bitter white pith. Finely slice remainder of peels.
Simmer fruit with water (1C fruit + 1/4C water) until soft. Remove seeds. Puree
fruit (if desired).
TIP: 4C fruit puree + 1C rind is a good combination.
Make marmalade.
Add spices (if using) and sugar (1C
fruit + 3/4C sugar). i.e. 4C fruit + 3C sugar.
Dissolve sugar then stir through
rind. Boil gently until set (15-30 minutes for most marmalade, sometimes longer
for big batches). Stir occasionally.
Heat jars.
Boil jars for 10 minutes before
filling with hot marmalade to ¼ inch from the top. Submerge filled, sealed jars
in boiling water for 10 minutes to vacuum seal. Cool overnight then store in a
cool, dark and dry place for 12 months or more.