“I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.”
D.H. Lawrence
It’s a happy feeling just looking at a jar of homemade Kumquat Marmalade, characteristically bitter-sweet and delicious. Life continues to race, the days forever busy. A feeling of strange uncertainty takes over at times, like I’ve forgotten something, maybe missed a deadline. It’s not the ‘end of the year‘ panicky feeling, or the ‘before exam restlessness‘. Then again, maybe like marmalade, life is bitter-sweet too!
I like to enjoy what I do, relax and vegetate sometimes, yet the modern day rat race of sorts is woven into every second that ticks by. Can’t figure out what happened to those laid back times of yesteryear.
Then in this feeling of being on a roller coaster comes a small break … jam making. Thankfully it’s a process that you so totally get immersed in, that the unsettled feeling is forgotten. The marmalade kept me on my toes, more so because junior decided to get involved.
Right from plucking the fruit off the tree, to shooting fruit in baskets, to grabbing some away from the dog, stirring, bottling … he was there all the way! {Little Coco had her eyes peeled through-out}I have been fascinated by the fruit since I was young. No one ever ate them, too tart of course, but they were so pretty! And the colours?Inspirational! Then a few years ago, a lady in the neighbourhood let us into her guarded little secret of making bitter marmalade with these. You will not imagine how many kilos of sugar disappeared into jars of jam once we were ‘fruitily enlightened‘!Every one we knew and their cousins were gifted bitter marmalade with glee. The hard work of snipping peels and stirring the jam until translucent well worth the look of amazement on the happy recipients faces. For the past 3 years this is all I do come winter, and everyone in the neighbourhood knows where to send their fruit.
Call it the strangeness of nature, but the much in demand lime tree just doesn’t seem to bear fruit like the kumquat tree. Kumquats finds little use among common growers and are not commercially sold in India. Yet, almost every household in North India proudly sports a kumquat tree, also called ornamental orange. The fruit fall and rot once ripe as even birds don’t feed on them, they are so tart!!
The round kumquat also called Marumi kumquat or Morgani kumquat, is an evergreen tree, producing edible golden-yellow fruit. Kumquat literally means ‘golden orange’. The fruit can be eaten cooked but is mainly used to make marmalades and jellies. It is grown as an ornamental plant and can be used in bonsai. The plant symbolizes good luck in China and other Asian countries.
“So much sugar? More? No Mama, No”! I forgot all my jam making skills, and I have made this jam umpteen times. “Is it done mama, is it done. Shall I stir? What if the bag of seeds opens? I think you haven’t tied it properly?” I could have tied up the thirteen year old, I was so nervous.
Then I announced it was ‘plate test time’. “What’s that? Ooh can I do it? I think it’s setting. Ya. No. Noooooooooooo … cook some more Mama. OK, let me stir. Shall we cook more?” . I finally regained control of my bitter kumquat marmalade finally telling him I thought it was done {though I think I cooked it a little longer than I should have!}
It’s strange how when kids are part of a process, they love the food even more. It’s been marmalade and toast for the past few days no matter what. Double fried eggs, cereal … and then the call, “Mama, if it’s not too much trouble, can I have toast with marmalade please?” Did I tell you he was charming? Gosh, all the way!
Summary: Bitter kumquat marmalade is one of the best ways to use up this tart fruit. Makes a for a great gift, and is also a wonderful addition to cake batters, frosting, pies etc. Makes about 6 jars.
Sterilize 4-5 jam jars. Place a metal spoon in each jar {this ensures that the glass jar will not crack when the hot jam is poured in}.
Place the sieving bowl over a bigger bowl, and squeeze the seeds to deseed the fruit. We need to collect the seeds as they contain the pectin to set the jam. Make a bouquet garnet of the seeds.
Snip the peels with scissors into strips.
Place the strips, with the pouch of seeds, in a heavy bottom pan on full heat. Boil for a few minutes till the peel is tender, stirring constantly.
Add the water and continue to cook on high for 2-3 minutes. Now add sugar, stirring constantly.
Continue to cook over high heat for a further 10-15 minutes until the mixture thickens & the strips becomes translucent.
Do a plate test by dropping some marmalade on a cold metal plate to check if the jam is setting properly. After 30 seconds, it should congeal and look jellylike.
Put off the flame, discard the muslin pouch with the seeds and allow the jam to cool for 10-15 minutes. Stir to distribute the strips.
Now pour the marmalade into the jars, and seal after 10-15 minutes.
{I refrigerate my jars}
Thermomix method:
Place the peels in the TM bowl and slice at speed 10 for 2-3 seconds. Add the reserved juice to the TM bowl, with 250g water, and run on Reverse at 100 for 10 minutes, speed slow.
Add 800g sugar and the bouquet garni {which holds the seeds}, and run at reverse at speed 2 for 2 minutes. Add a further 450g sugar {small kumquats tend to be very bitter}, and continue to cook at reverse speed 2 for a further 8 minutes.
Now turn power to 100C, place the lid at an angle, and cook until the gelling action kicks in and the jam begins to set. {Do a stainless steel plate test. Drop some marmalade on a cold plate to see if it sets in under a minute}. Mine took about 7-8 minutes.
Put off the TM, discard the muslin pouch with the seeds & allow to stand in TM jar for about 15-20 minutes, and then pour into prepared jars. I refrigerate my marmalade.
“Macarons should be eaten slowly with each mouthful savoured. They should be eaten somewhere pretty and refined.”
Yellow Magpie
Nothing in the cookie world seems to have evoked as much interest and admiration as macarons! Sweet and pretty bites, inspirational to make, absolutely charming, yet intimidating for bakers like me. At MacTweets,our mac-obsessed kitchen, Jamie and I called to mark World Macaron Day on March 20th. These Blood Orange Macarons with Maple Orange Chocolate Pastry Creme are my tribute to this delightful invention!I’ve missed making macarons for a while now and was happy to be faced with a MacTweets challenge for World Macaron Day. Been thinking long on what to make and what not to, and then thanks to sweet blogger friends like the lovely and talented Shayma, I made these addictive bites. They might not look perfect, but they tasted fabulous!Life is busy and we have had family and friends from overseas visiting us over the past few months. They all know I food blog, so with them come delicious ingredients and kitchen stuff I might not ever dream of. I feel special … very special!…and felt even more so when a few days ago the Spice Spoon girl tweeted to ask when my folk were visiting as she had something to send for me. My cousin from Pittsburgh flew in a few days later. With him came these beautiful spice boxes from William Sonoma – Dried Blood Orange Peel and Pure Maple Flakes.The minute I saw the pretty little jars I knew what my macs were going to be – Blood Orange with Maple filling. I had already a thread of orange in my mind as my life is overflowing with tangerines. All the little shrubs have branches hanging heavy with this beautiful fruit … the little pooch seems to take a keen interest in the fruit too; little Coco who is ALL EYES!!Pretty orange life and there is only so much bitter marmalade I can make. I thought I would sweeten the filling mildly with maple flakes and add a dash of orange from the little bitter tangerines. The shells baked fine, the little feet appearing in a few minutes of baking, blushing a pastel orange. Of course we had a power cut again, but thankfully the frills had formed so no harm done! I was quite happy. What I wasn’t happy with was my choice of filling. A pastry creme obviously isn’t firm enough for these fiddly creatures. They got soft overnight and I had some fixing to do!I had a fix in mind … chocolate can fix anything, even a broken heart, and then I came across Mardi’s macaron post asking ‘Why do my macarons have hollow shells. That set me thinking! It was time to read up again.My macarons are also hollow at times and OK at other times even though my recipe is the same. So mac-obsessed me set off to try Mardis recipe.I have to say they are the best tasting macarons I have ever made even though the shells weren’t anywhere near smooth. They looked so good 6 minutes into baking, just the perfect macs, but soon after threatened to crack up, but then shriveled slightly. Maybe it was because of undermixing, but the flavours were da bomb! You can find her recipe, perfect macarons and beautiful post here…To remedy the filling, I melted dark couverture chocolate and stirred it through the maple orange pastry creme, then chilled it. Delicieux!! There was a slight hint of bitterness from the tangerine peel and the balance of flavours was perfect! Thank you my sweet friend Shayma @ The Spice Spoon for adding wonderful spice to my life; inspiration too! I am sure you’ve been to her beautiful blog;it’s a treat in every sense!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Blood Orange Macarons with Maple Orange Chocolate Pastry Creme
Summary: A perfect balance of flavours. Blood orange peel macarons, with a bitter orange dark chocolate filling, laced with mild flavours of pure maple. {Makes about 15 macarons} Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Run the powdered sugar, cornflour, almond meal, egg white powder and blood orange flakes in your processor until well blended and fine. Sift into a bowl.
Beat the egg white until foamy, then add the granulated sugar and beat for approximately 2 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Fold in 1/4 of the dry mix until no streaks remain, then add the remainder of the dry mix and gently fold in until you get a lava like batter. {donot overfold}
Place into a piping bag and pipe circles onto parchment paper.
Tap the trays sharply to get rid of air bubbles and allow to rest for 30-45 minutes.
Bake in double trays at 140C for 12-15 minutes, until the shells are firm and no longer jiggly. {My oven uses just the lower element for baking, so I place the double trays towards the top of the oven}
Cool.
Maple Orange Chocolate Pastry Creme
Whisk together the flour, tangerine rind, maple flakes, sugar, salt, melted butter and egg in a heavy saucepan. Slowly add in the milk, whisking to ensure no lumps form. Place over medium heat with vanilla bean and bring to a simmer. Make sure you stir constantly so that the cream doesn’t ‘catch’ the bottom of the pan. Stir constantly until thick, remove from the heat and push through a sieve. Stir in the blood orange flakes, add the melted chocolate and whisk occasionally as it cools. Chill to firm up.
Thermomix Maple Orange Pastry Creme
Place all ingredients except blood orange flakes in bowl of TM, mix on reverse speed 2 for 5 seconds, then cook at 90C, Speed 4 for 7 minutes.
Push through a sieve into a bowl, mix in blood orange flakes and stir occasionally until cool.
To assemble:
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Use a small spoon and deposit a tiny amount of pastry creme on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Rest in fridge for a day to allow the flavours to mature.
“Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate.”
G.K. Chesterton
Desperate times call for desperate measures! Even though the magnitude of my troubles was minuscule, 3 days of no internet reduced me to tears. Silly how addicted and dependent we can be on the internet. Sometime back, sweet Joy from Gourmeted tweeted about Lemon Curd & Shortbread Bars. I had a small jar of left over lemon curd in the freezer and this recipe called my name. Saved the link as the net is just a heartbeat away; well almost always…Little did I know!! We have massive roadworks being carried out for rain harvesting which have meant underground telephone cables being cut pretty often. The cable company always has them up and running the same day; not this time though as the damage was extensive. Oh the untold anguish and the feeling of being cut-off…These wedges were something born out of desperation as I finally gave up and decided to bake ‘anything shortbread’ with the lemon curd and strawberries. Cookbooks yielded nothing, so I eventually put together a basic shortbread recipe for the base, topped it with the lemon curd, and then threw on some strawberries to add colour and taste. Slivered almonds on top for crunch seemed to crown these well. My love for fruit in baking continues unabated. I managed to get a neat stash of strawberries the other day at a really good price. The challenge of course was to use them judiciously and deliciously so they wouldn’t disappoint! Froze some, made some strawberry muffins {recipe to be blogged}, and then made this shortbread.’twas soon time to tempt the teen out of her diet, and these had her eating out of my hand, no fuss, nothing! Ah the power of food, always A M A Z I N G!! I enjoyed making these. Loved the different textures, the colours, and the burst of flavours from the rather buttery unsweetened shortbread to the sweet tart lemon curd, the strawberries lending their ever promising magic to the wedges. Bye bye diet, hello happiness!!It’s always handy to have lemon curd on hand. Have you tried making your own? I use a simple home made lemon curd recipe from Ju @ Little Teochew. It freezes beautifully too, and am contemplating doing a batch of orange lemon curd once before the season bids us adieu.
Strawberry & Lemon Curd Shortbread Delicious and light, the crisp buttery shortbread base is complimented beautifully by simple homemade lemon curd – the flavours tart & sweet. Strawberries add a unique dimension to this indulgent dessert.
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Cooking time: 45 mins | Servings: 6 | Meal type: High tea / Dessert Biscuit Crust:
100g butter, chilled, cut into cubes
3/4 cup plain flour Topping:
2/3 cup easy homemade lemon curd
100g fresh strawberries, diced
1/4 cup slivered almonds Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a loose bottomed 7″ round tart pan.
Run the flour and butter in blender until you get a breadcrumb like mix. Press into the bottom of a removable base 7″ round tart pan.
Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes, until light brown Take out of oven, top with lemon curd followed by strawberries. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over.
Return to oven and continue to bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes till the edges begin to get light brown.
Cool on rack, cut into wedges and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with unsweetened whipped cream.
Variations
You can use other seasonal fruit like blueberries, raspberries etc.
I have a winner for the CSN giveaway… It’s Michelle @ Big Black Dog who said, “I know exactly what I want at CNS, a pizelle maker!”. Congrats Michelle. Mailing you soon!!
“Giving birth is little more than a set of muscular contractions granting passage of a child. Then the mother is born.”
Erma Bombeck
Another year… welcome 2011! She came into our lives 15 years ago, in 1996, on a chilly foggy 2nd Jan. It was cold beyond belief, and we waited for what seemed like forever with our baby bag packed, never knowing when the ‘time would come‘. A few false alarms later, poor Mr PAB was in panic and driving me down through foggy roads … it was time. After some rather painful hours, we found a new world with the sweetest little bundle of joy. She was here!He still remembers her cute little face, a huge mop of hair, eyes blinking, gurgling laughter … a little cherub. I remember not, nothing much, and that is typical me. My memories are recorded by Mr PAB, and he replays them time and again, whenever he is hit by a wave of nostalgia … happens O F T E N!. A golden child till she was 3. Then bit by bit she developed her own stubborn little ways, shaping her personality as the years went by…She turned 15 two days ago. No 1st January or New Year Day has the hype as the 2nd at home. Hushed whispers, gifts being wrapped and the teen in our mind. She isn’t the angel she used to be; much the rebellious little lady now. Life isn’t a cake walk at all given times, and handling her isn’t exactly easy. Still, her heart of gold makes life better! I knowhope know we will look back at these ‘wonder years‘ and wonder how we pulled through.Until then, there is always cake!As the years go by, it seems easier to make a cake. Teens are T O U G H to handle, layered cakes are not! Winter makes baking and cake making fun. The cream {low fat is what we get here} whips into submission, the frosting sets and doesn’t melt, the bright orange hybrid ‘kinnows‘ colour the bazaar orange, and the tangerines are ripe for picking! I initially wanted to make something from the Le Cordon Bleu Chocolate Bible, but hadn’t taken permission to reprint the recipe. Made a Chocolate Orange Almond Gateau instead. There had to be some chocolate in there…The orange sponge comes out light and delicious, like a cloud. It’s a recipe that I’ve made before from a tiny book by Sue Ross. The method is different from any other, yet the cake is light, spongy and rises beautifully. The original recipe is for one 3 egg gateau, but I made 2 three egg sponges as we are a large extended family, and love our cake! There is no culinary joy for us without seconds; the kids will try and get thirds if possible … the lad managed with his charming persuasive skills!!I didn’t get any pictures of the making as the day was dark, dreary & foggy. Thankfully the blanket of fog and the cloud cover disappeared for a bit on the 2nd, and I got a few pictures. The cake was wonderful and moist, with a beautiful balance of flavours. Orange, almond and chocolate hang in delicate harmony, each complimenting the other, no overpowering flavours. The basic sponge recipe is a nice one to keep in your recipe folder as a base for layer cakes. I’ve got it in my folder …
Chocolate Orange Almond Gateau Serves 15-18 Orange Sponge {I doubled the following recipe for 2 X 10″ sponges}
150gms {1 1/4 cup} plain flour
25gms {1/8 cup} cornflour
150gms {1 1/4 cup} powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, separated
5 tbsp oil {I used sunflower oil}
5 tbsp water
Rind of 1 orange {I used kinnow, a mandarin orange/citrus hybrid, like a satsuma}
1 tbsp orange / kinnow juice
1 tsp orange extract Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line 2 10″ spring form tins; grease. {The original recipe uses 2 8″ sandwich tins for 1 three egg cake. I made 2 three egg cakes, each cake in a 10″ tin}
Sift the cornflour, plain flour, baking powder, salt and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl.
Beat the egg whites till they stand in soft peaks. Keep aside.
With a whisk, lightly mix the oil, water, yolks, juice, rind and extract together. Stir into into the dry ingredients.
Beat with an electric beater on low speed until smooth.
Carefully fold the beaten whites gently into the yolk mixture.
Turn into 2 lined tins and bake for about 45 minutes till well risen and golden brown / until done. Check if it is done with a wooden pick. {Slide a sheet of foil lightly over the top if it begins to brown too fast}.
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on rack.
Once cool, cut into 2 layers each. Ganache
200ml low fat cream
225 gm dark chocolate Method:
Place the cream & half the dark chocolate in a pan over low heat and stir until the chocolate has melted.
Put the remaining chocolate in a bowl, and pour the melted cream and chocolate mixture over it, and stir until all the chocolate has melted and is glossy. Reserve. {It will continue to thicken as it stands} Filling / Almond Nut Whipped Cream
600ml low fat cream, chilled
4 tbsp almond meal
4tbsp powdered sugar {increase if required} Method:
Whip all ingredients together till thick and hold peaks. Adjust sugar if required. Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup water
1/2 tsp orange extract
Small stick cinnamon Method:
Simmer till the sugar has dissolved, and cool completely. {I usually keep a thick syrup in a jar in the fridge, sieved leftover syrup from poaching pears in} Assemble the Gateau
Brush the cake with the cooled syrup and sandwich with the almond nut whipped cream.
Frost the sides and top of the cake with the ganache. Decorate the top with grated chocolate shavings etc. Top with a few slices of candied tangerines. Stick some toasted slivered almonds into the sides {Thank you for the slivered almonds Madhulika. Loved using them!} Chill well for the flavours to mature. In winter keep out at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. In warm weather, serve straight out of the fridge.
