One of my most prized possessions is my lemon, orange and clementine trees. All lovingly grown from saplings many moons ago.
Marmalade with Christmas Spices
Marmelade is, therefore, the answer. This recipe is super easy and spiced with cinnamon and star anise, which help pop the citrus flavour and give it a festive feel. You don’t need a clementine tree. Grab a bag from your local market and make a batch as Christmas gifts.
Finely slice the clementines and lemons, and put the pips into a muslin bag. Add the cinnamon and star anise, and gently simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove the muslin bag (squeezing the muslin bag juices back into the fruit). Remove the spices and cook the fruit with an equal amount of sugar for a maximum of 20 minutes. Leave it to settle, and bingo, you can bottle your marmalade.
I have a reputation for making very runny marmalade (and jam) as I struggle with using a lot of sugar. This batch was perfect as I followed Joan Wilson’s guidelines for making marmalade 😁. Also I had the added advantage of picking the fruit 10 minutes before, so the lemons were high in pectin. I would recommend using jam sugar if you are worried about reaching the setting point. The recipe is adapted from “Perfect Preserves” by Joan Wilson, a classic bible for jam making (1991, Penguin Group, London).
We spread it on soda bread, heavenly, ‘Christmas Morning on Toast’ 🎄, perfectly scented with a strong citrus flavour. It’s not sugary. By all means, swap clementines for mandarins, tangerines, kumquats, or satsumas. Here is a helpful link to understand the difference between them.
As well as a Festive Clementine Marmalade, we will soon be bringing clementine cake and clementine salsa to the Wild Epicurean🍊
Click here for all the festive recipes, plus an excellent recipe for a Classic marmalade straight after the festive season.
Festive Clementine Marmalade
Equipment
- Large heavy-based saucepan. 20 cm square piece of muslin. Sterilised jam jars, approx 6-8 x 300ml. Saucer in the freezer to check the setting point.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo clementines
- 3 large lemons
- approx 1.3 kilo sugar or jam sugar
- 4 star anise
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 cinnamon sticks (approx 8cm)
- 1.2 litres water or enough to 'just' cover the fruit
Instructions
- Finely slice the clementines and one of the lemons into rounds, carefully removing and RESERVING all the pips and pouring any juice into the saucepan.
- Juice the remaining two lemons and then finely slice the peel, reserving the pips.
- Put pips and lemon peel into the muslin and tie firmly; add to the saucepan with fruit and spices, and pour in the water. It should just cover the fruit.
- Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 1½-2 hours or until the peel is soft.
- When cool enough to handle, remove the muslin bag and squeeze as much juice back into the pot.
- Measure pulp and stir in 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of pulp. When the sugar has dissolved, quickly bring it back to a boil.
- Boil briskly until the setting point is reached. No more than 20 minutes. Avoid stiring too much; only enough to prevent it from sticking.
- Let the marmalade cool slightly, which ensures the fruit is well distributed in the jars. Pack into hot jars and seal firmly. Store in a cool dark place and refrigerate after opening. See below for bottling and testing for the setting point.
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