Sunday, March 5, 2017

Vanilla Clementine Marmalade Toast Topper #76

It's been ages since I've posted one of my infamous Toast Toppers. Over the summer last year, I made and canned a ton of things to savour over the chilly winter season, and now we're finally rounding the corner on the sauces and savoury toppings lining the shelves. That said, I didn't get much of a chance to do a lot with fruit last year - I made a few things with peaches during the two weeks or so they were any good, but ran out of steam after picking pounds upon pounds of both wine and Concord grapes from the backyard vines. Now that we're in March, the memory of sweet, juicy fruit is bordering on torture, especially when I can see fellow bloggers down south enjoying first of the season berries!

Vanilla Clementine Marmalade


Finally, there was no getting around it - the jam jars were empty, and since we're now spoiled by homemade jam and jelly, a jar of storebought spread just isn't the same in the morning. But what to preserve when nothing is growing? Thankfully, decent international shipping means that winter here is citrus season - Meyer lemons, blood oranges, clementines... almost all of them. I decided to utilize a few clementines (a childhood favourite) to make this small-batch marmalade.

Unlike most jams, marmalade is set by the natural pectin in citrus seeds and pith combining with sugar. I'm not going to lie - this spread is much higher in sugar than my normal Toast Toppers, but a little goes a long way because the flavour is so pronounced. To up the ante even more, I went more of a "creamsicle" route by adding vanilla sugar as half the sweetener. The vanilla added just the right amount of floral, comfortingly classic flavour to the batch, making it not only great on a morning bagel, but with scones or even stirred into yogurt (mom's favourite). The whole process takes time, but very minimal involvement with the exceptions of stirring occasionally and checking your thermometer. Not a bad trade-off, I would say!


Vanilla Clementine Marmalade
Makes ~ 2 cups, 32 (1 tbsp) servings
5 clementines, whole, scrubbed well
1 ½ cups water
1 lemon, halved
1 cup sugar
1 cup vanilla sugar
  1. Combine whole clementines and water in a large pot.
  2. Squeeze the lemon, reserving the juice, then bundle the seeds in cheesecloth and add to the pot.
  3. Cover and simmer for 2-3 hours, until fruit is soft. Cool overnight.
  4. Discard cheesecloth bundle and transfer fruit to a bowl (reserve all liquid). Halve the clementines and scoop out the insides into a blender, saving the peels.
  5. Puree the fruit and transfer to a clean pot. Finely slice the reserved peels.
  6. Add sugars and lemon juice to pot. Heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil.
  7. Stir peels into the boiling mixture.
  8. Boil, stirring often, until marmalade reaches 220*F.
  9. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to distribute peel evenly.
  10. Fill hot, sterilized jars; seal and process in a waterbath for 15 minutes.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 53.9
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.0 mg
Total Carbs: 13.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 0.1 g

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