Three Citrus Marmalade

 

I bought a couple of grapefruit in December and never got around to eating them.  I also noticed that the squirrels didn't eat quite all of the oranges on the citrus tree.  So here comes this recipe from Food In Jars to the rescue.

Similar to a recipe in the Ball Book of Canning, this one primarily uses the zest of the fruit and requires you to supreme the wedges.  It's an annoying process, but you get better at it as you go along.  Use a sharp knife with a gentle touch.  The whole thing is going to take about two hours if you've never done it before.

I'm cutting Marisa's already small yield recipe in half.  Two pints of marmalade is plenty when you also have as much jam on hand as I do.  And I was making Marissa's version of fig mustard later the same day and did not feel like spending so much time on my first recipe.  I ended up with a few extra ounces of fruit when I weighed it, which you can see in the extra 4oz jar in the photo.

*2 lbs assorted citrus fruit (I used 2 grapefruit, 2 Valencia oranges, and 1 Meyer lemon)
3 C sugar
if necessary, 1-2 Tb dry pectin

1.  Wash the fruit in warm, soapy water and dry thoroughly.  Remove zest only from the fruit with a vegetable peeler, leaving the white pith behind.  Stack the strips and slice into zest confetti.  Combine in a pot with 1 quart of filtered water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until zest is tender.

2.  While the zest is cooking, supreme the fruit.  Cut the pith off the flesh using the melon method.  Cut away the pulp between the membranes.  Collect the fruit and juices in a bowl.  Save the seeds, as they will be your pectin later.

3.  Collect all your seeds in a piece of cheesecloth and tie securely.  Or, you can use my method of encasing them in a stainless steel tea ball that has a chain so it can dangle into the pot.

4.  Drain the zest in a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the cooking liquid.

5.  If canning, prepare a boiling water bath and jars for a 2-pint yield.  Place the lids in a small saucepan of water and simmer over the lowest heat.

6.  In a pot, combine the drained zest, all the fruit and juices you just supremed, 2 C of the reserved cooking liquid, the sugar, and the package of seeds.  Bring to a vigorous boil and cook until the mixture reaches 220º, which will take about 30 minutes.  Stir often to prevent scorching or boiling over.

7.  When the mixture can maintain 220º for 1 minute, even while being stirred, remove from the heat.  Test set, and add a tablespoon or two of pectin if too thin.  Return to the heat if pectin is added and boil another 5 minutes, until consistency changes.

8.  Ladle the marmalade into prepared jars.  If canning, wipe the rims, center lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  For non-canning, allow to cool until no longer steaming, then place into containers and refrigerate promptly.  Use within a few weeks.

Makes approx 2 pints

Difficulty rating  :-0