Kumquats are an interesting fruit. They are part of the citrus family, but unlike oranges and lemons, they carry their sugar in the rinds. So the inside of the kumquat is a bit tart, while the outside is sweet. They look like tiny oranges.
I wanted to put the kumquats in a nice, wintry jam, so I chose cranberry as the alternative flavor. Citrus and cranberry goes together very well, and as an additional kick, I used cinnamon.
The first step was slicing the kumquats crosswise into very thin slivers. Remove the seeds and place them in a cloth spice bag. They are a valuable source of pectin that will help the jam to gel.
I cooked the three pounds of sliced kumquats and four pounds of cranberries together with three cups of water in a pot. I included four whole sticks of cinnamon and the spice bag filled with the kumquat seeds.
I cooked the cranberries down for about an hour. Then I added four cups of sugar into the mixture. After cooking it down for another 45 minutes, the jam thickened, producing a beautiful red consistency. This jam isn’t too sweet. While the taste of the cranberries is strong, the kumquat does come through nicely. The cinnamon is a nice undertone.
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds kumquat
- 4 pounds cranberry
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups sugar
- a spice bag filled with kumquat seeds, for pectin
So delicious Liz! If only every single ingredient in Switzerland wasn’t so bloody expensive…! I hope there’s a jar left of each jam, I intend to poach them all in Feb!