Clementine Marmalade

I look forward every winter to the boxes of clementines showing up in all the stores. This thin skinned super sweet citrus brings sunshine to the dark winter days. This year I was feeling a bit of a desire to add a little bite to my sunshine by making a marmalade.

There are people who may avoid marmalade because of an edge of bitter to the flavor but I found the clementine version to be less bitter because there is very little of the white pith.

The process I like to use takes two days. I like it better because it lessens the cooking time.

Day 1

15 Clementines

• Sliced in half
• Then sliced matchstick thin

2 small lemons

• Sliced in half

• Remove seeds

• Do not throw out seeds. They have lots of natural pectin that will help gel your marmalade. There are several options for how to use the seeds without them being left in the jam

1. Tie them in a couple layers of cheese cloth

2. Put them in a sturdy tea ball

3. Pull apart a tea bag, remove the tea and tie the end up.

• Squeeze juice
• Dice skin small

4 cups water

• Place all ingredients in a non reactive pot

• Bring to a boil
• Simmer for 5 minute
• Cover and let sit over night or about 15 hours

Day 2

4 ½ cups sugar ( more if you like it sweeter)

• Bring to a boil
• Set on simmer for 2 - 3 hours
• Stir every once and awhile( you can do it at a higher temperature for a quicker cooking time but you will need to watch it closely)
• Check for gel with the frozen plate test, I started checking when the mixture started getting thick.

Pour into sterilized jars.

Now you can throw a pretty label on it and find out which of your friends flock to your side.