It's my weekend off though, the weather has been glorious, today I saw what's thought to be Emmeline Pankhurst's personal cosh (her great grandson is our head of police) which was unexpected, and I've made marmalade.
The marmalade is the Leafy Lemon and Vanilla from Lillie O'Brien's 'Five Seasons of Jam'. It's a while since I opened this book, but I was after something inspiring to do with some Sorrento lemons (I knew I wanted marmalade) and it's just the place to look for that. It's also made me think I need to plan ahead a bit for other things as they come into season.
One thing I really like about this book is the relatively modest quantities of preserve you end up with, this batch made 5 jars, which is enough. The Seville recipe I have left me with 14 jars; daunting if you don't have much cupboard space.
Most of the batch is still cooling in its jars as I write this, but there were a couple of spoons left and so we made some Marmalade cocktails with it. The results were extremely encouraging. To make enough for two you want the juice of a large lemon, a couple of dessert spoons of marmalade, and enough gin for both of you and plenty of ice. Shake everything together, check you like it, adjust proportions if necessary, strain and drink.
Because both the lemon juice and marmalade are throwing their weight around in this the trick is to find the right balance for your palate rather than being precise about measurements. I like a small cocktail that I can drink in good time, whilst it's cold, without having to gulp it, plenty of lemon because I love the sour flavour, and lighter on the marmalade than some recipes I've seen. The type of marmalade you use will make a difference too. Fortunately experimenting to get it right is fun.
The lemon and Vanilla marmalade made for an almost sherbety edge to begin with, and then a subtle, but distinct, Vanilla hit on the back palate - a really nice combination that I think we'll enjoy again. Definitely worth the effort of making the marmalade for on its own, never mind the toast possibilities tomorrow morning.
Both the marmalade and the cocktails sound utterly delicious. I can't even bear the word Brexit anymore I'm so sick of it all!
ReplyDeleteBoth are utterly delicious, The marmalade, whichever marmalade I've used has been a reliable favourite. I would never have thought to put lemon and Vanilla together in a preserve, and because this recipe uses less sugar than I expected (just under the fruit weight) the flavour is sharper than I imagined - in a good way. I half expected something curd like, but it's not. So sick of the Brexit situation and what it's doing to us all.
DeleteI love marmalade and cocktails so this sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI hear you about Brexit. I can't concentrate on anything much at the moment either. Short easy reads, that's what it is for me. Good luck and more power to your elbow!
It's a really good cocktail. Plenty of room for tweaks to make it your own too - next time I have a lime marmalade I'll be trying it with that and lime juice. Have got some rush tickets from the RSC on Wednesday as another distraction.
DeleteThis sounds delicious but since I eat only one jar of marmalade a year, I would have to make the drink with whatever is in my jar.
ReplyDeleteI no longer listen to the news or much else on the radio nowadays.
I first found it looking for something to do to use up marmalade - I've seen jam versions too, but when I tried them for a work thing they weren't good. If you like the sound of it it's well worth a try. For a one person quantity a tea spoon of marmalade is enough to start with.
DeleteThank you, that sounds do-able.
ReplyDelete