Marmalades

Red Onion Marmalade and Carrot Marmalade

My days have been really busy what with taking care of a toddler and 2-month old, making sure food doesn't go bad in the fridge, keeping the house clean and trying out new marmalade recipes. After being inspired by Suzanne's strawberry-lemon marmalade, making my own and loving it, I got out my Ball Blue Book to see what other marmalade recipes they had. I had an overabundance of carrots in my fridge, so the Carrot Marmalade looked really interesting. And I absolutely love red onions, so I thought a Red Onion Marmalade sounded like fun! So that is what I made today.

But curse the pectin, I don't know why my marmalades aren't setting! I've had bad luck with the strawberry-lemon and the carrot marmalades. I think it has to do with when the recipe has me add the pectin, because with my red onion marmalade (which is mostly jelly) it had me add the pectin at a different time and it's looking like it's going to set nicely. Or maybe I'm not boiling it long enough? Aack! I don't know. There is nothing more frustrating that runny jam. At least the carrot marmalade has so much carrot and lemon peel in it, the runniness isn't as noticeable.

Aren't the marmalades a pretty color? Runniness aside, they are both very delicious and I am looking forward to spreading them on some cranberry almond bread. Mmmm!

Carrot Marmalade

From Ball Blue Book with my adaptions.

1 cup + 2 Tbsp. grated lemon peel (use a tiny-holed grater)

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 cups grated carrots (use a tiny-holed grater)

4 cups sugar

2 cups crushed pineapple, drained (I used canned pineapple and let it sit in a sieve over a bowl for 15 minutes)

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine lemon peel, lemon juice, carrots, sugar, pineapple, allspice and nutmeg in a large sauce pot, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Slowly stir marmalade 2 minutes. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Yield: about 6 half-pints

Red Onion Marmalade

From Ball Blue Book with my adaptions.

2 cups thinly sliced, halved, peeled red onions

1 cup finely chopped dried cranberries

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 package powdered pectin

2 tsp. grated orange peel

3 cups bottled unsweetened apple juice

4 cups granulated sugar

Sauté onions, cranberries, brown sugar and cider vinegar in a skillet over medium heat, until onions are transparent. Combine onion mixture, powdered pectin, orange peel and apple juice in a large sauce pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add granulated sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Yield: about 5 half-pints (I got 6 half-pints out of it.)