I adore pomelos.
I think the scent of a ripe pomelo is absolutely intoxicating. Truthfully, they’re in the kind of the same category as glitter and sparkly things for me, meaning that if I walk past them at a market, I get distracted like a little kid, forget what I was doing, and wander over to the pomelo display, where I have to pick them up and smell them for a few minutes.
If you’re unfamiliar with pomelos, they’re these absolutely massive, pale yellow citrus fruits that taste like a very sweet grapefruit. They have a really thick peel, which, according to wikipedia, “is sometimes used to make marmalade.” Very good, wikipedia, you’re quite right.
I had two of them sitting in my kitchen for a few days, and I ended up in the middle of a marmalade frenzy on the morning of January 1st, throwing together all of the citrus fruit I had in my kitchen into one delightful batch. This recipe turned out delicious, with a nice set and and just the right ratio of citrus jelly to citrus peel. (My boyfriend, who has about 15 years of professional cooking experience, tastes almost every single batch of marmalade I make, thinks for a moment, and almost always says “too much peel.” Well, I think I finally got it right on this one. The slices of peel are elegantly suspended in a liberal amount of the sweet citrus jelly).
I have to say, though, citrus fruits are lucky that they come into season in the middle of the winter, when no one is trying to plant tomatoes or pick green beans or can peaches, because, shoot, this recipe is elaborate, to say the least. Maybe they knew we’d be sitting around wishing for a project since the weather’s too gray and cold for gardening. a properly gelled marmalade on January 1st is most certainly a good omen
If you have some patience and your knife is sharp, I highly recommend this recipe. I’ve used five different types of citrus fruit and used two different styles of preparing the rinds to result in what I think will be the best texture in the finished marmalade. It may be time consuming to make, but spread on a toasted english muffin with butter, it’s all worth it.
Citrus Marmalade
makes: about 9 1/2 half pint jars
cook time: it’s not fast… this is a more advanced level recipe, which doesn’t mean beginners shouldn’t tackle it, it just means it will take a lot of time if you don’t already know your way around an orange
Ingredients:
- 2 pomelos
- 1 grapefruit
- a handful of kumquats (it was going to be more but I ate them)
- 2 navel oranges
- 2 lemons (not meyer- just plain old normal lemons)
- 8 cups of water, either filtered or spring
- 8 cups of sugar
Instructions- stay with me, I know it’s long:
Day 1: Prepare the fruit and combine it with the water
To prepare the pomelos:
Run either a sharp knife or a sharp vegetable peeler around the outside of the pomelos, removing the colored part of the rind and leaving behind the pith. Stack the pieces of rind in a pile and slice them into the thinnest strips you can manage. If the finished strips are on the long side, cut them in half or thirds (you want them to fit nicely into a spoon for the finished marmalade, not to be pomelo noodles). Set the finished pomelo rind aside in a mixing bowl. Now, cut off the layer of white pith to reveal the colored fruit. Use your knife to remove individual segments from the fruit, leaving behind the bitter membranes. Roughly chop the fruit segments into bite size pieces. Set the prepared fruit pieces aside in the mixing bowl. If you’d like to see pictures, see the older version of this recipe, where I’ve got step-by-step photos.*
To prepare the grapefruit:
Use the same method as described above, using only the outer part of the rind and the segments of fruit. Combine the finished fruit segments and sliced strips of peel with the prepared pomelo in your mixing bowl.
To prepare the kumquats:
Slice off the tip where the stem was attached. Next, slice the kumquat in half. Remove any little seeds. Next, each half of the kumquat into very thin strips. Combine the prepared kumquat with the prepared grapefruit and pomelo.
To prepare the lemons and oranges:
Slice off the blossom and stem end of the fruit. Slice the fruit into quarters. Slice off the pithy center of each quarter, where the membranes join together and the seeds are hiding. Lay out the pieces of fruit so that the skin side is facing you and slice the oranges and lemons into the thinnest pieces you can manage. Hitchhiking to Heaven has a post with some pictures of this process if you’d like some visual clarification. Combine the prepared oranges and lemons with the other prepared fruit.
Next:
Combine the fruit and the water in a nonreactive container and let it sit for 24 hours.
Day 2 (the easy part):
Bring boiling water canner to a boil. Wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water.
Put the fruit mixture into a large, nonreactive pot. Turn the heat on medium and bring to a simmer. Simmer the fruit for 20 minutes to soften the rinds. Pour in the sugar and stir to combine everything. Turn the heat to high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the marmalade reads 220 on a candy thermometer or passes whatever gel test you like.**
Ladle the hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Process for 10 minutes.
*This whole recipe is a new version of the very first recipe that I posted on this site, a pomelo marmalade with rosewater and cardamom. That recipe was tasty, but this one is better. I ditched the exotic spices in this version, but if you wanted to, you could absolutely add them back in at the same time that you add the sugar. Oh, and I left them out because I have literally no marmalade in the pantry right now, and I wanted something clean and bright to start with, not because I didn’t like how they turned out. Cardamom and rosewater are super good with pomelos.
**My candy thermometer is officially not accurate, so I’m back to using the spoon test. (Picture here) It was really simple and the marmalade gelled just fine, which makes me wonder about getting a new thermometer.
12 thoughts on “Citrus Marmalade”
LWThis looks amazing! Ive not made marmalade in quite some time, but if I can get to whole foods for fruit, I may give it a go.Reply- KarenI need this! Hope to see you at the market this Saturday with this in hand. :^)Reply
- CarolineI’ll be there! With any luck, I’m also bringing seville orange marmalade and lemon marmalade. and I have eggs again…Reply
- KarenOh goody! We’re leaving for SF Sat morning(birthday weekend-dinner at A16 on Chestnut, eehaw!)-will see you first thing before we go.Reply
- JoelGrow It Can It Cook It – this looks like an all-u-can-eat citrus buffet. Love it – thanks for sharing it with our winter round up; we’re sharing it here: http://wp.me/pp3Ce-1Pr). Reply
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- sharonYour marmalade looks scrumptious. I was wondering about the ratio of fruit to sugar. There is no pectin so I believe you need more sugar, but I dislike marmalade that’s too sweet. Any help would be valued. Thank you for sharing.Reply
- YvonneGreat recipe – I make so much marmalade – I give it to everyone in town! Just one question – why don’t you use the pith of the pomelo? I always have. I have never mixed the pomelo with anything else, just pomelo, water & sugar, but I use all the pomelo minus the pips.Reply
- Carolineyvonne, i was worried that with so many different rinds in the mix it might end up being overly bitter. also, i was trying to get the right ratio of jelly to rind, and when i put all the rinds from all the fruit in the recipe into the batch, it was way too chunky. if you are an experienced marmalade maker it would certainly be up to interpretation though Reply
- RosemaryI receive a gift of meyer lemons several time during the year. Have you every made a meyer lemon marmalade?Reply
- Grace FordWe can’t get pomelos here, could I use grapefruit instead?
Karen
Caroline
sharon
Yvonne
Rosemary
Grace Ford
