Preserving Foods #21: Clementines & Cumquats

Dec 23/12

A couple of weeks ago I bought some clementines with the intention of preserving them. Finally, I found/took the time to get to work on them.

I am using the following recipe:

Clementine Preserves
Day 1

• wash the clementines, scrubbing them clean
• pierce them everywhere with a thin needle
• put them in a pot and cover with 1” of water
• bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes
• remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in a (glass) bowl/jar
• add to the hot liquid: 500 gr sugar and 200 gr honey (which helps prevent the sugar from going grainy apparently)
• bring syrup just to boil and then pour over the clementines
• weight the fruit down with a plate and loosely cover container with a cloth
• leave covered container of fruit on counter for two days

Day 3

• remove the fruit from the bowl
• reheat the liquid plus another 100 gr sugar
• bring to full boil and again pour over the fruit as above
• let sit for another 2 days

Repeat for two weeks

Day 15

• put fruit, covered with liquid, in a jar
• store in cool, dry, dark location
• will keep for a year; taste better with age.

(Day 1)

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I had leftover syrup so I decided to preserve the rest of my cumquats.
I pierced them (just once) and put them on the stove, covered with water and simmered for 10 minutes
I brought the syrup from above to a boil. (Note this recipe said that their had to be 60% sugar so I added another cup of sugar to the syrup just to be safe.)
I used a slotted spoon to transfer the fruit into a sterilized jar, added the syrup and sealed the jar.
I will let this sit for a couple of weeks as well before I crack it open and see how yummy they taste. Because I haven’t followed the recipe exactly (guessing at the sugar content) I will store this in the refrigerator.

(one 1/2 pint of homegrown cumquats)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)