Marmalade-Navel Oranges With Brown Sugar-Good, not too sweet, but very soft set.
Marmalade With Blood Oranges, Cara Cara and Orange Blossom Water-Slightly perfume-y, firmer set.
Grapefruit Marmalade With Brown Sugar and Lavender-About as perfect as marmalade gets. Set is firm, but not too hard.
Three Citrus Marmalade With Bitters-If marmalade could taste like a Manhattan, this would be close, but maybe I just have that association with bitters. Firmer set than the plain marmalade, but still somewhat soft. It does have me wondering if I could make a lemon marmalade with bourbon and maraschino cherries-and of course, bitters. Not the magical transformation I was hoping for, but still a fine batch of marmalade worthy of a good slice of toast. Raymond, guess what I'll be sending your way once the weather eases?
Grapefruit Anise Jelly-Overall winner with Danny. It tastes like grapefruit licorice. I can't wait to use it for baking fish.
Spiced Orange Jelly-Everyone who has tried this says it doesn't taste like orange, but some sort of honey/apple/spice cake. It does have apple pectin in it, though I'd be shocked if that was the key to it. I used Cara Cara oranges, which have a somewhat subtle orange flavour, but really I don't know what happened. Sometimes you just get the magical combination of fruits, spices, and the Universe rooting for you to turn out a batch of perfection. I guess this is one of those times.
I still can't seem to discern the perfect temperature for setting marmalade as it varies batch to batch. I know this should not be so-and yet. As none were overcooked, or too runny to spread on toast, I'll consider this year's Marmalade/jelly making a success. I have a few grapefruit left, but unless I'm faced with an even deeper discount on massive quantities of citrus, I believe I'll be done for the season, save perhaps for some spiced citrus slices in brandy.
Spiced Orange Jelly?! What spices did you use? I guess that's what I had in mind with the bitters. Adding some notes of herbs or something.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think I might be with Danny RE the the anise-flavored.
Yet I'm looking forward to the bitters marmalade!
I used cinnamon and clove-we jokingly call it the "pomador" jelly. It really tastes almost like honey-such a wonderful, strange result.
ReplyDeleteI will post you a few assorted jars as soon as the weather cooperates. I don't go into "town" (three miles down a steep, icy hill) when the weather is crummy, but wait for Mr. ETB to drive me around door-to-door on weekends.
The anise one really is lovely-I'll send some of that as well. The bitters one tastes better (had some on the weekend) after a few days than it did when I made it-maybe the flavours take time to develop?
I've stopped bothering with crackers, and just have a couple spoons of marmalade in a dish when I want something sweet. I'm really pleased with the flavours of all the varieties, but I do wish I could perfect the set. Oh well, at least nothing is overcooked-that's worse, I guess.
I received a package; thank you! I've opened only two jars so far: the Three Citrus Marmalade with Bitters, and the Spiced Orange Jelly. Both are terrific! At first I liked one, then the other better, then... agh, I can't decide. But last night I brought out a roll and these two jars; after bites with each, and after finishing the roll, I kept on eating knife-loads full of the Three Citrus Marmalade version right outta the jar. So maybe that's my fave? Looking forward to the others, which I'll try after these jars get low. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if I ever mentioned it, but you should store them with the screw-band removed. Replace it once they are opened, and store in the fridge. If they sit a long time, the band can rust to the lid.
Ok. But I don't think they'll sit very long.
ReplyDelete