Kumquat Marmalade Recipe

Just around this time last year, I binged on kumquats from the farmer's market. The sweetness of the kumquat rind and acidity of its pulp made my teeth unbearably sensitive for the next week. Just looking at my left-over kumquats made my mouth ache. Instead of throwing them out, I made a really successful marmalade! Unfortunately, the season was over before I could make more.

I've been waiting all year to make the recipe again, and this time I took some photos with which to share the recipe. I've listed the ingredients in terms of how many kumquats are used.

Warning: This recipe should be started the night before...

Kumquat Marmalade

Ingredients
+ Kumquats (as many as you have!)
+ Sugar
+ Water

Preparation
Wash all the fruit and remove any green stems. The photo above shows the kumquats without the stems. Don't worry about removing the seeds in this recipe - they're mostly harmless.

This is the most labor intensive part. Start slicing each kumquat thinly. I usually cut them in half length wise, and mince them like I would some garlic cloves, as in the macro shot below. It takes about 1 hour for me to slice 100 kumquats. I had blisters by the time I was finished.

Now soak the rinds and pulp in three times their volume in water for twelve hours, or over night. The next morning, bring them to a boil until all the rinds are very tender. This takes up to an hour.

Like this! See that film on the top? You're going to want to remove that at this point.

Now it's time to add the sugar! Add the same volume of sugar as you have fruit, and bring it back to a boil. At this point, I start bringing out spoonfuls of the liquid (be careful, it's kind of hot) and putting them in the freezer to bring them to room temperature quickly. Every 15 minutes, check the consistency using this method until the desired spreadability is achieved.

Then fill sterilized (or at least clean) jam jars 90% and close them tightly immediately. As they cool, the warm air in the 10% remaining will cool and form a vacuum inside.

See for yourself: