Tangerine & Lime Marmalade
As part of the Tigress' Can Jam, I made Tangerine & Lime Marmalade. I've never made marmalade before, but I thought making lemon curd would be a total cop out since I make it regularly - it's best to try new things and see what you think. There were several other options, but the tangerines were so pretty (and on sale) that I thought I would go with them and then find a recipe to work. Citrus is perfect this time of year - even my little potted Meyer Lemon tree produced two beautiful lemons this year - which will be made into lemon curd this week. I had thought too of getting clementines as well, but we'll see - their season is short so if I'm going to, I had better make up my mind.
Tangerine & Lime Marmalade
9 Tangerines
3 Limes
5 cups H2O
6 cups Sugar*
Wash all fruit, juice them and slice rind as thin as you can (I thought about using a mandoline, but went with a super sharp knife instead). Put the juice/rind/water in saucepan.
NOTE: There are a ridiculous amount of seeds in tangerines so pay close attention to not have those end up in your marmalade.
Bring mixture to a boil and reduce to simmer until the rinds are soft - this took me about 1 hour 15 minutes. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved and continue to boil until set - this took, for me any way, longer than the 20-30 minutes in the recipe, but it wasn't a big deal.
Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, put lids in place and tighten down. Invert the jars for a few minutes, then place upright and let cool completely. Check seals, label, and store in cool dry place. For me - this recipe made 6 half pints of marmalade - tasted the little bit of left overs - so. very. good.
Step Method: Complete to the point just before you add sugar. Cool and refrigerate. In the next day or two (at the most!) put mixture back into a sauce pot and heat and add sugar and continue recipe.
*I only used five cups of sugar. Have you ever looked at six cups of sugar? Good lord that's a lot of sugar - that is perhaps while it took a little longer for my marmalade to set, but again it's not that big of a deal.
I agree that looking at mounds of sugar when you're making preserves can be kind of disturbing/breathtaking! But I usually just dump it in, because I've had setting troubles when I reduce the amount of sugar. (Truthfully, I've had setting troubles even when I add the whole amount of sugar.)
ReplyDeleteIf you have lots of seeds, sometimes you can make a little cheesecloth pouch of seeds to dangle in the pot during the first part of cooking (to add more pectin)--that might help the setting go faster in the second part of cooking.
Libby --- hey -- thanks for the idea about the seeds. Isn't it interesting the things that help set jams/jellies... The sugar was truly impressive, but it does taste pretty nifty. Jj
ReplyDeleteIf you use Agar Agar you only need half the amount of sugar when making jams. For 500 grams of fruit, add 250-300 grams sugar plus 1 teaspoon Agar Agar. You may have to store the jam in the fridge once opened, but it usually gets used so fast this is not a problem.
ReplyDelete