Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Kumquat Marmalde

Kumquats are a strange little fruit, They measure from 1/2 an inch up to 1 1/2 inches. They're in the citrus family but you eat the whole fruit and actually the skin is sweeter than the pulp.

Zoe, our dog, loves oranges and will wake from a sound sleep if there is an orange being peeled, kumquats are a different story, she really wants to love then as much as oranges, but will only eat the really ripe ones! I don't know how she knows that.
I looked at a lot of recipes and decided that I'd go with one that doesn't use pectin and was in a smaller batch. this is a modification between two recipes. Easy is what I like!






2 Cups of sliced Kumquats I found that it was easier to just slice them with a knife. I tried the mandolin and the Mouli slicer, but it wasn't working with either. I also thought the seeds would be a problem but they were easy to pick out and when you added the water most floated to the top.

Some recipes had you save the seeds and tie them up in a cloth and cook them with the marmalade but I couldn't find out why? Natural pectin I suppose?








Soak the Kumquats in 4 cups of water overnight to soften the skins, not really sure this step is necessary but a lot of the recipes I read used this method.














The next day bring the skins to a boil. One recipe had you then drain and soak them again overnight. I didn't do that, I went right to the next step.














I added 1 1/2 cups of sugar and boiled it until it reached 220 on the instant read thermometer. It took about 45 minutes.


I was also going to add some Brandy at this stage, but it seemed to be missing...











Perfect amount and such a beautiful color. It jelled up beautifully when it cooled and it retained just enough of it's tartness. Now to make some bread to go with it!