Super Easy Ginger Kumquat Marmalade
Adapted slightly from Recipe Girl
This is seriously the easiest marmalade ever!
Making jam always sounds like such an intimidating project, doesn’t it? All that cooking and making sure you get the proportions right and how much pectin should you use? How do you make sure the jars seal? Do you need to do a water bath?
Well I have discovered a secret … did you know you can make jam in the microwave? When I ran across this recipe from Recipe Girl, the idea totally blew me away. I just had to try it. I had a bunch of kumquats in my fridge drawer that were getting well past their prime, some starting to get soft or brown in spots. I seriously needed a good way to use them up fast. This marmalade sounded just perfect.
The best part about this marmalade? No pectin required. No special equipment. All you need is fruit, sugar, a bit of freshly shredded ginger root, a bowl, a spoon and a microwave. Okay, it does help to have a handi chopper or food processor to blend up the fruit, but still: How simple is that?
Ingredients
- A bunch of kumquats, seeds and pith removed (if necessary) + 1 peeled orange ~ pureed in a food processor ~ About 2 3/4 cups total fruit, after pureeing
- 2 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 3/4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the kumquats roughly and remove any seeds or pithy white parts in the middle. Peel an orange and chop it into small chunks. Put all of this into a food processor or handi chopper and puree until smooth. I ended up with 2 3/4 cups of fruit puree.
- Put the fruit puree in a microwave safe bowl and stir in the sugar and the ginger.
- Microwave on high for 15 minutes, stopping to stir twice. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- The marmalade might be a little thin at this point, but it will thicken as it cools.
- You can do the whole sterilized jar thing if you like, but I just poured it into a couple jars after it cooled and put it in the fridge. I've found that jam usually keeps for at least a month in the fridge and I've no doubt I'll find some good uses for it before that.
Notes
You can adjust the amounts to fit the amount of fruit you have ... just use 1 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit, then add 1 teaspoon of ginger and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for each cup of fruit.
This recipe was shared at Manic Monday, Wednesday Extravaganza, Tasty Thursdays and In & Out of the Kitchen Bloghop.
I am going to have to try this, Ann! I love homemade jams and this looks like a new one that we would all love!
February 13, 2013 at 8:07 pm
Oh yay! I’m so excited you’re going to try it … I think you will love it
February 13, 2013 at 11:39 pm