Grapefruit Marmalade

For those who love the bittersweet tang of marmalade on their buttery toast, do i have a recipe for you! Grapefruit is a bitter fruit by mature, and makes a delicious honey/amber coloured marmalade. I picked mine from a tree overhanging a friends garden, they were very ripe and juicy with a thick pith.

8 grapefuit

1.5 kg sugar

water

juice of one lemon

1. After thorough washing, peel the skin leaving the pith and shred finely, place peel in a large non reactive bowl

2. remove pith and seeds from grapefruits and keep in a jelly bag (or a very old, clean, pillow slip kept for this purpose)

3. slice fruit as finely as you can muster after all of that chopping

4. Add the fruit to the bowl with the shredded peel and cover with water. Place the jelly bag containing seeds and pith in the water also (you will

remover this later - it just helps it to set)

5. leave overnight to soak

6. the following day, remove the jelly bag and pour your mixture into a large pot to cook. Allow to boil until the peel is so soft that you can easily squash it with the back of a spoon.

7. Take off the heat and add sugar. Stir to dissolve and taste... is it too bitter? if so, add more!

8. Add lemon juice, and boil the mixture very hard (be careful, it will bubble and froth quite high!) until it gels

9. bottle and seal in sterilised jars.

mandarin marmalade

Its delicious! and the rinds turn out very soft and unctuous. the recipe i have used comes from Sue Ruchels book - 'windfalls' with a few differences of my own. It seems like a long process, but if you soak your mandarins and shred the rind overnight it is all finished and bottled the next day, with a definite sense of achievement

Delicious Mandarin Shred Marmalade

1kg mandarins
2 lemons
water
sugar

The day before peel the mandarins and slice the peel very finely. Place the shredded peel ina muslin bag and reserve. Wash and roughly chop the lemons and segment the mandarins and place in a large non reactive bowl and cover with water. Put the peel in with the fruit and leave overnight.

The next day boil all of the fruit and water and peel until the fruit is soft and the liquid reduced by about half. remover the peel after the first 20 minutes. Pour all the fruit through a jelly bag and leave to drip for as
long as you have patience for - you can squeeze the bag if you dont mind a cloudy marmalade - i squeezed mine :) and discard the pulp.

In a large non reactive pot add the sugar to the juice in the ratio of one cup of
sugar to one cup of juice - a little less if you like it a little less sweet- and stir to dissolve over low heat. Boil the mixture hard until setting test is reached. Take off the heat, allow to stand and add the peel. stir and bottle while hot. Invert the bottles to create a seal and voila!

delicious marmalade to share with family and friends

tough rinds?

has anyone else made lime marmalade and had the rinds turn out a little tough? mine were, but as the marmalade gets older they are softening. i have a theory that its something to do with the sugar - maybe the lime mix was a bit hot when i dissolved the sugar and it partially candied the peels? any ideas?
happy preserving!
here is the recipe i followed for Awesome Lime Marmalade

lime marmalade

and some photos of my lime marmalade!

tastes so good i ate it with a spoon after. im so proud of my efforts!

Awesome Lime Marmalade

1 kg limes
1.5 litres water
1.75 kg sugar

Wash the limes, fresh firm limes are best, and slice as thinly as you can. Soak the limes in a non reactive bowl with the water overnight.
Transfer the limes and water to a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer gently, covered, until the lime skins are very soft (for about 1 hour). When the lime skins become soft take off the heat and add the sugar and stir until it dissolves.
Once the sugar has dissolved (you may need to put back on the heat, but dont boil before it dissolves!) bring the mixture to the boil, and boil rapidly for about 20 minutes. the marmalade will froth a lot. once the mixture stops frothing start testing for set! The best way to test whether the marmalade is set is the crinkle test - drop some marmalade onto a cold plate and allow to cool (you can put it in the freezer for a minute or so). push the edge of the cooled marmalade and if it crinkles the marmalade is ready to bottle! scoop into sterilised jars and seal
Ta Da! lime marmalade!

note: pectin (which makes the jam set and is naturally found in fruit) can break down if the marmalade is boiled too much after the setting point is reached.

welcome.. to my jammy world

i like making jam. its my new hobby. one day i will have a jammy empire... or a market stall... or something. and i say jam, but what i really mean is anything preserved and kept in a jar. so far i have had two jammy adventures- lime marmalade, and piccalilly! my lime marmalade came out beautifully; tangy and sweet and a pale gold colour. perfect for toast. and piccalilly is like mustard pickles and very very tasty, a bit pungent, and a deep turmeric yellow - perfect with ham. Apparently it's also good on cheese sandwiches (i'm not good at dairy so i havent tried it!) .
Actually i really enjoy cooking, especially baking. i think i like creating things in general, and the added bonus about baking and making preserves is that i find the process very satisfying, and relaxing. i make cupcakes when im feeling stressed (it doesnt hurt that i get to eat them too!)
i hope you enjoy reading and trying my recipes, i aim to put photos and recipes up, as well as reviews on recipe books. happy marmalade!