Kumquat Marmalade

One of my regular customers had a huge bag of kumquats and offered me as much as I wanted.  We had a kumquat tree when I was little, where the Pond is now, so all I could think of was making jam with the pound I took, like we used to do.  Grandma Sophie didn't have a recipe for it because we were just refrigerating the jam.  For a canning-safe version, I went to Preserving by the Pint.  Just two ingredients, three if you count water.  I added spices for this post, but you don't have to.

For those who have never heard of them, kumquats are some of the smallest citrus fruits.  Their rinds are sweet and the insides bitter.  You can eat them whole, make marmalade, preserve in syrup, or pickle in a sweet vinegar brine.  They're fantastic thinly sliced on a salad or in a vinaigrette.

Yes, there's a lot of prep work in this, like the first act of Les Miz (original Broadway cast).  After all the trimming and slicing, you simply boil, put it in jars, and process (other half of the show).  Since this is a small-batch recipe, it's a fun project.  I wouldn't want to put up five pounds.  Had enough of trimming after the artichokes.

*1 lb kumquats
1-1/2 C sugar
2 C water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (optional)

1.  Prepare a boiling water bath and jars for a 1 pt yield.  I did one wide-mouth half-pint and two jelly jars.  Place new lids in a small saucepan with water and simmer to soften.

2.  Wash the kumquats well and pick out any with rotten spots.  Cut off the stem ends and cut into quarters lengthwise.  Remove any seeds and trim off the white membrane running down the center.  Keep them for the next step.  What you'll have left is the rind and a little bit of pulp.  Cut into long strips.

3.  After about 90 minutes, you'll have close to 2 cups of kumquat strips and less than a cup of seeds and membranes.  The original recipe says to tie the guts in a piece of cheesecloth.  I was out and put them in my large loose-leaf tea strainer.  It has a hook that fit on the pot I was using and dipped low enough for the pectin to make its way into the batch.

4.  Place kumquat strips, sugar, water, and spices in a non-reactive saucepan.  Drop in cheesecloth pouch.  Stir together and heat to boiling.  Continue to boil, skimming and stirring as necessary, until mixture reaches 220º.  This is going to take at least half an hour.  If you don't have a thermometer, you'll be able to tell when it's ready because the bubbles will get bigger, be less foamy, and start to look like glass.  There's also the frozen plate test, but once you've done this a few times you kind of know by sight.

5.  Remove pot from heat and discard cheesecloth.  Ladle marmalade into prepared jars.  Wipe rims, center lids, and secure rings finger-tight.  Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.  Remove and place on a towel to cool to room temperature before removing rings, testing seals, wiping clean, and marking for storage.  You can re-process once if the seal fails, but more might make the jam bitter.

Yield: 1 pint

Difficulty rating:  :)