I would very much like to hat it!”
—– The Mad Hatter
Our Dinner Party Group held a special tea party to kick off the season. We hosted, so I took the opportunity to put up some appropriate sweet treats to add to the menu. I decided to make a marmalade cake and had plenty of fresh oranges and lemons on my trees to accomplish the task. I used one of Ina Garten’s recipes for the marmalade.
Anna’s Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
8 cups sugar
Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin half-moon slices. Discard any seeds. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a stainless-steel pot. Add 8 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature.
The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees. It will be a golden orange color.
Pour the marmalade into clean, hot Mason jars; wipe the rims thoroughly with a clean damp paper towel, and seal with the lids. Store in the pantry up to one year. Makes about 3 cups.
This was perfect for my Sticky Marmalade Cake!
Lemon Curd
Ingredients
a pinch of Kosher salt, optional
Zest the lemons and combine the zest with the sugar.
Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and zest mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in 1/2 cup lemon juice and a pinch of Kosher salt, if desired.
Pour the mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees, or just .below simmer.
Remove from heat. Cool, and then refrigerate until serving.
I made this curd for my Tipsy Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake (above photo, bottom left), but it was also good on the scones.
Strawberry Lavender Jam
Ingredients
1 tablespoon lavender flowers
Wash and crush the fruit, and put into a large pot. Add the lemon juice. Measure the sugar, then take 1/4 cup of the sugar and mix with the pectin. Set the rest of the sugar aside.
Stir the pectin/sugar mixture into the berries and put the mix over medium to high heat. Stirring often enough to prevent burning, bring the mixture to a full boil (the kind that cannot be stirred away). This should take about 5 or 10 minutes.
When the berry mixture has reached a full boil, add the rest of the sugar, and then bring it back to a full boil (fairly slowly, on medium heat rather than high). Remove from heat.
Let stand for 5 minutes and stir completely (so the fruit will not float to the top of the jar). Fill the jars to within 1/4-inch of the top. Replace the lids, and invert the jars for 5-8 minutes. Then upright the jars and allow to cool completely, undisturbed.
[Note: the jam can also be processed in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.]
