Category: Jam

Tangerine Marmalade

After Christmas, I have been taking stock of all our left-overs. We must have been expecting a frenzy of people wanting tangerines, gin & tonic, and fresh ginger.

I made this mixed fruit marmalade with all the citrus fruit. Still to work out what to do with a huge bag of fresh ginger.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Tangerines, Limes, Lemons, Oranges, Grapefruit, combined = 1.4 kg
  • 1.4 kg jam sugar
  • 2.8 litres of water

METHOD:

  • Peel the tangerines, and slice the peel into thin shreds. Put this in a wee muslin bag
  • Chop all the fruit up coarsely, with the peel on – slicing it works well.
  • Put the wee bag of peel and the fruit into a large pan with the water, and bring to the simmer, cook for 2 hours. Remove the wee muslin bag about half way through.
  • Strain the mixture through a jelly bag, and measure the juice – if it is more than 1.4 litres, put it into the jam pan and bring to the boil and reduce.
  • Add the sugar, dissolve it, and bring to the boil. I use a thermometer to get to jam temperature, then I hold the stirring spoon horizontally to see if the drips start to set and combine together (flake test)
  • Skim off any foam, add the shredded peel, and let the mixture start to cool. Pour into clean warmed jars. (I warm the clean jars in the oven).

Fig and Rhubarb Jam

Noms. I made this because I had the ingredients. It turned out very tasty and set well. The recipe is from Marguerite Patten’s book ’500 recipes for jams, pickles and chutneys’ price 2 shillings and sixpence. I thought it would be out of print, but NO it is really available on Amazon, newer edition than mine though.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb dried figs
  • 2 lb chopped rhubarb
  • 1 pint of water
  • 3 lb sugar
  • Juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon

METHOD:

  • Soak the figs in the water for 48 hours, then simmer until soft
  • Add the rhubarb, and cook to form a thick pulp
  • Add the sugar and lime juice, simmer until the sugar is dissolved
  • Boil hard to setting point
  • Then put it in jars.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

This is a classic. I use a very old version from a book by Marguerite Patten; the book is priced 2/6! The jam is best with rhubarb cut late in the year. I have recently reviewed this alongside the ‘Maw Broon’s cookbook’ and updated it. As usual, most of the ingredients can be ethically sourced.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 800g-1kg Rhubarb, locally grown
  • 200g crystalised ginger
  • 1kg jam sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon

METHOD:

  • Cut the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces, and cover with the sugar to stand overnight.
  • Chop the ginger finely and sprinkle into the sugar.
  • Cook slowly in a jam pan, until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Add the lemon juice and bring to the boil. Heat quickly until the jam is thick, and boil for about 15 minutes.
  • Pour into clean warmed jars.

Quince and roses

I got given some quinces so I had a stab at making quince marmalade. I added some essence of roses, and it was inspired. Thank you to Mrs Bird.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 Quinces – each quince produces around 100g flesh
  • 1 lemon
  • 500g jam sugar
  • 2 tbsp rose water
  • Water

METHOD:

  • I wiped the fuzz off the quinces, put them in a pan and covered them in water, and simmered in a covered pan for an hour.
  • Once the quinces were tender, I cooled them, peeled and cored them and chopped the flesh up into small chunks.
  • I added the peel and cores to the remaining water and boiled this up with the zest of the lemon. The liquid started to change to a gentle light red.
  • I strained the liquid, and then added the rose water and lemon juice, and made the volume up to around 300ml
  • I put the chopped quince into the liquid, and started boiling, as the colour darkened I added the jam sugar, and boiled to setting point. (I used a jam thermometer, but I also used the cold plate technique)
  • I poured into clean jars that I had heated up in the oven.

The test on the spoon was wonderful, but the true test will be in the morning when I try it on toast.