Who says you can't can in the winter? Today I made a delicious citrus vanilla bean marmalade from a Ball Canning Best of magazine/cookbook I had purchased in late summer 2016 at the grocer's. I thought I was all through canning after the last tomato was off the vine. But the winter has made me a little stir crazy and the abundance of fresh citrus, all of it grown directly here in the USA right now, had me feeling the canning bells ringing.
So today I made this recipe. My favorite part -- and the reason I was so attracted to it -- was the three citrus and then the added vanilla bean pods. Marmalade can be very bitter. I still remember my first taste of it as a child. But the vanilla mellows and takes the edge off nicely.
Mine had to cook twice as long to reach the desired temperature of soft boil at 225F. (Please excuse the oats on the stove top.) That was because I cut some of the sugar and also there was not as much pulp so I replaced it with more juice.
The end product tasted great. I can't wait to try it after it has set and had a chance to mellow a bit. I did have a piece of toast with some freshly brewed marmalade on top.
I also, before the marmalade had reached soft boil stage, dipped a lady finger in it, which quickly soaked up the syrupy sweetness. The taste was amazing.
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