In the field of marmalade cookbooks, this book remains at the top of the heap. It’s an excellent primer on the basics as well as an opportunity to go deeper.
Last fall, when I was still trying to pick myself up from the blow of being laid off from my job, I got a email from my editor at Running Press. She was working on a marmalade project and wanted to know if I’d be interested in making a sampling of recipes from book for the photo shoot. My need for work, coupled with the fact that I was very much excited to see a world of new-to-me marmalades, meant that I said yes within moments of receiving her note.
In early January, I spent about two weeks digging deep into the world of marmalades. I simmered, sliced, grated, and jarred up 12 recipes from the book. I went crazy trying to find yuzu, passionfruit, and Seville oranges in Philadelphia. Without question, I got far more than my daily recommended dose of vitamin C during that period.
Now, many months later, Marmalade
is here and it is gorgeous. Written by food writer and marmalade obsessive Elizabeth Field and photographed by award winning food blogger and photographer Helene Dujardin, this book is a pleasure to hold and use. It contains a variety of marmalades (sweet, savory, citrus, and beyond), as well meals that can incorporate these spreads and baked goods that can serve as vehicle for them.
Of course, I get particular pleasure flipping through this book, because nearly every preserve and spread pictured is something I made in my own kitchen. It’s ridiculously satisfying to look at the photos and recall the flavors and aromas of each recipe.
I’m also happy to have this volume in my hands, because while I made a dozen of the recipes it contains, I didn’t actually get to keep any of them. I’m very much looking forward to revisit the Tangerine and Vanilla Marmalade, as well as the “In the Pink” variety made from ruby red grapefruit.
Recently, I queried my Twitter followers, asking what they were looking for in a preserving book. An internet acquaintance of mine said that she was looking for something that would allow her to push her preserving skills and move beyond the basic “Canning 101” recipes that are so readily found. Happily (at least, if she likes marmalade), this is a book that might serve her well. While it’s plenty accessible for new canners, there’s also plenty here that will satisfy those looking to broaden their canning.
I’m afraid that I’m responsible for this variation on the Passionfruit Marmalade recipe in this book. When I tested these recipes, I marched up and down the length and breadth of Philadelphia, trying to find passionfruit. I came to the conclusion that it was impossible to source in January.
Instead of admitting defeat, I created a version that used dragon fruit, in the hopes that it might trick the camera. It didn’t, but instead of tossing that batch, the powers that be decided to add a variation to the book, in order to make the photo work. I was greatly relieved that my efforts weren’t wasted. It’s also fun to see the small impact I had on this delightful book.
I made grapefruit marmalade last year…. it has a very interesting taste. Tart but sweet. I’m looking forward to making orange this winter.
I had never in my life sampled marmalade before my adventures in canning began in September 2012. We ordered bulk strawberries through our local food co-op, Bountiful Baskets, (60 lbs of berries) and in an effort to make variety, my older 2 kids (I have 4 total) and I made strawberry lemon lime marmalade … I cannot tell you how wonderful an experience it was! Not only is the marmalade delicious with it’s sweet strawberry flavor and little hints of lemon or lime surprising the taste buds, but making it has sparked interest in my children and now canning is a family affair! More recently we’ve made zucchini marmalade… along with other jams and jellies. It’s great family fun. We are always on the lookout for new recipe books!
My ability to follow a recipe got in the way when I made mamalade. I decided I didn’t have time to grate the peel I would just chop as fine as I could. Unfortunately I didn’t do that either so my end jars had postage stamp sized pieces of orange. I did try to strain some of them out and the marmalade wasn’t that bad. We still eat it. . .
it give you a good feeling to make your one,jams, marmalade, jelly’s,
I have never tried to make marmalade, but love to have orange marmalade on an English Muffin that is slathered with Kerry Gold Butter! It would be fun to try to make my own.
I adore marmalade and I’m trying to figure out how to get it thick without pectin and without it getting dark. This year I made a lemon pumpkin marmalade that is out of this world and I’m looking forward to experimenting with more marmalades as citrus season hits.
I tried making orange marmalade once with little success. This looks like a book that would help me next time.
I’ve never made marmalade and it’s never really appealed to me to be honest. However, I just made an incredible batch of lemon apple honey jam from your book and I LOVED it!! That lemony taste was incredible! This has me thinking that marmalades are just the thing for me to dive into next, and with citrus season approaching I would absolutely love to have this book.
When the Berlin wall came down, my sister and I made a pilgrimage to Europe and in a little hotel in London found white toast and orange marmalade on the breakfast table and fell in love!
I have only had orange marmalade and have never made it. I am intrigued. Must make marmalade.
Wonderful! I have used it in oatmeal bars and also in BBQ sauce!
I love marmalade, but I’ve never made it. It’s on my to do list. This book looks great.
I ADORE marmalade. I eat it out of the jar. I am going to make it with a vengeance this season because last year I was a skillion months pregnant and too tired to stand at the stove.
I love marmalade so much. I used to slather it all over the biscuits my mom made when I was growing up. I’ve never made my own surprisingly enough but it’s on my list of things to do this winter.
I make an orange/peach marmalade with hot peppers. Wonderful in all sorts of ways. I am always looking for new recipes and especially interested in using honey in place of some of the sugar. Can be tricky, but doable.
I love marmalade and make it regularly every year. Mostly Seville orange during their short season, but also 3 or 4 fruit variations. The best one I ever made was with random fruits left in the fruit bowl after Christmas, so I can’t remember exactly what went into it!
I often substitute some of the white sugar with Muscovado (unrefined) sugar for an Oxford-style darker marmalade. I’ve also been known to save random citrus peel and slices of lemon etc in the freezer for an almost-free marmalade. You still add some lemon juice, but it doesn’t set solid as it has less pectin in it. Still tastes delicious!
Fresh marmalade on hot toast with tea brings back memories of home so far away on the other side if the ocean. Something so sophisticated about marmalade.
I love it and I am looking forward to visiting some friends in a few weeks. They have a lemon tree and they have already said I can take some home with me. Yummy! I may try some lemon marmalade.
Have recently started making jam and jelly again, but have never tried marmalade – but after seeing these pictures, I want too!
love making, love love love eating it
I can lots of jams and jellies, but have never tried a marmalade, it will be fun to start on something new. Growing up my mother didn’t like orange marmalade, so we didn’t have it around the house. Still don’t, but that is just from habit. Can’t wait to try.
I love marmalade but have never made it. This book sounds awesome. My dad is an orange marmalade lover. Growing up I used to love having toast or bagels with my dad, slathered with sweet & a bit tart orange marmalade.
I can a ton but have never made marmalade, because my family east nothing but strawberry jam. But I might do it this winter.
Orange is a staple for me, but I also love a tart lemon marmalade too. I’d love to try other flavors….
I love & make Meyer Lemon marmalade every year from my little tree. Would love more inspiration!
All looks amazing,I would love to try marmalade.I have spent the summer and spring making jam and jelly but never thought about marmalade,I would love to try!!!
I guess I haven’t tried marmalade. This will be a good opportunity to try some.
I have been experimenting and enjoying canning for a few years. Last year I prepared your Kumquat marmalade recipe and everyone loved it… it was something new and exciting. I look forward to experimenting with flavors and textures. This book intrigues me…..
I have a love affair with green tomato marmalade… I pick them before they are red and throw them in my jam pot.
Love kumquat marmalade! One year I bought a few pounds from California just to make it. In the long run they were cheaper by the pound, fresher and juicer.
I made a four fruit marmalade that was absolutely wonderful. It had oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits. I’d like to try some others, as marmalades are one of my favorite jams.
made your small batch orange marmalade last January…just opened my last jar 🙁 but will be doing it AGAIN that’s for sure. beautiful and delicious. Thank you so much.
Biggest disappointment…bought a baking book…it recommended a particular apricot orange marmalade…I thought I would find the recipe in the book…NOT THERE. Spent awhile trying to find her old family recipe…gave up..
Your recipe is awesome. You make us look good!
Would love to have this book it look’s like a winner also.
When I think of marmalade, I think of ladies drinking tea and eating biscuits with marmalade yum! I love how it almost seems to transport you to an era where time passed more slowly and people had time to relax. Today, marmalade is a bit fancy, and a little luxurious, but oh so delicious! And I just can’t get enough of it. I would love to own this book of recipes to explore more than just orange marmalade (although I do like orange marmalade)
Never seen a seville orange in real life – hope to someday – I love the complex personality of marmalade! I’m asking my library to get this book but would love my own!
I had marmalade at my grandmother’s house growing up, she loved orange, but I was never a fan. It wasn’t until I spent a semester abroad in Australia during college that I found a variety of marmalades existed and some of them were actually quite good. I still don’t eat a ton of it, but I definitely prefer homemade. I helped a friend make a spiced orange one that was quite tasty, sadly the tiny jar I took home lasted all of two weeks with my greedy roommates. I still can’t remember what all was in that batch.
Let me start by saying I love marmalade. And after the last two winters spent in the Bay area where citrus can be gleaned from trees out of your neighbors yard, I have become a serious devotee. I still have 2 jars of my citrus medley marmalade made in January, and I am coveting them. People in my life just don’t appreciate the bitter goodness of marmalade. So more for me! My preferred way of eating marmalade…….thick cut dense toast with a thick layer of creme fraiche, then the marmalade layer. It’s a creamsicle for breakfast!
First, I just received my copy of “Food in Jars” in the mail, and it was the perfect book to flip through while watching election returns. I can’t wait to try these!
My first experience with canning was a grapefruit marmalade, and it was admittedly a disaster. I got over my fear of the canning process, but I completely overcooked the marmalade and ended up with a perfectly preserved hard-as-rock mass. I would love to give marmalade another try.
my friends and i were literally (last week!) planning a day to make marmalade together when the blood oranges and cara cara oranges start coming into season (soon!). it would be perfect to have this book to guide us on our ventures! how exciting…
Marmalade will always make me think of my Grandpa. When I was a little girl and we’d spend the night at my grandparents farm, my Grandpa would always have orange marmalade on his toast in the morning. I was kind of on the fence about it but always put it on my toast, too, as it seemed so unusual compared to the strawberry jam we ate at home. This book looks gorgeous and would surely inspire me to have a go at making some marmalade of my own. Of course I’d have to send some to my Grandpa too!
I adore marmalade, the bitterer the better! At the beginning of last Summer I found a book at the neighborhood free bookshelf “Mary Meade’s Magic Recipes for the Electric Blender” by Ruth Ellen Church (not by Mary Meade…go figure). Inside was this recipe which became our Summer patio staple, copied here verbatim:
Marmalade Cocktail
(4 drinks)
Sounds terrible, but is very nice.
1/4 cup marmalade (apricot preserves are good too)
Juice 2 small lemons
4 jiggers of gin
1 cup cracked ice
Blend until smooth.
I didn’t think it sounded terrible, I made some immediately!
(Consume accompanied by dark chocolate Hobnobs for best results.)
It’s basically an alcoholic marmalade slushie, with chewy bits of peel in the last few sips. Heaven!
For 24ish years I thought I hated marmalade. Why would I choose it (as Grandma suggested) when the much-sweeter – and more to my liking – cherry was right next to it? The small girl that I was just found it too bitter and odd texturally.
It wasn’t until my husband threw together a batch of home-made marmalade from fresh oranges from a local grove, that I understood what they had been attempting to produce and sell in that grocery store jar, and what I had been missing out on. Blood orange is my favorite.
I love marmalade! It makes me feel fancy. 😉 I’m just learning how to put up food and marmalade is on my to-learn list. I bake all of my own bread and there’s little that makes me happier than cutting into fresh, crusty bread and smothering it with butter and marmalade. HEAVEN! p.s. Your blog rocks. 🙂
mmm…tomato marmalade is an unexpected, delicious favorite!
My first canning experience was with my older sister. We chose a recipe for a ruby red grapefruit marmalade. Making marmalade was a completely new adventure for us and it took us nearly 3 hours to make 6 1/2 pints. We didn’t quite know what we were doing and we were unsure about a lot of things, but we had so much fun during the process and we came away with 3 1/2 pints of marmalade each and a new found addiction to canning. I’ve put up many jars since that very first time, but I’ll never forget that first experience with canning marmalade and how special that was. Now it’s 3 months later and I just opened one of those cute little 1/2 pints and I realized just how versatile and luxurious it is. I eat it almost every morning on an english muffin with peanut butter I dip apple slices in it, I mix it in my gin cocktails, I pour it over cream cheese and eat it with crackers, I make a pan sauce with it and put it on a pork chop, I mix it in greek yogurt for breakfast, and sometimes I just eat a tiny spoonful of it by itself . I think about my older sister who is 3000 miles away every time I open a jar of marmalade.
I have always loved a good marmalade. I have tried making a batch of the regular orange marmalade, but would love to try some of the not so regular variations in this book. I am a canner, and have made many jams, and butters. Love to make these jeweled delights and gift others for christmas. The blood orange recipe looks yummy!
I love marmalade. The first time i had it was in an island with my boyfriend. He passed away a few years ago. Marmalade always reminds me of that first time and the summer spent at the island with my love. I would love to learn how to make this. I love to cook. I love food. I live to eat and not eat to live. If i have lots of money i would travel around the world and have a foodgasm.
I grew up celebrating many happy memories with my Nonnas apricot marmalade crostata. Everyone around the table sharing old stories and new. I would like to see our new generations do this.
I love marmalade. The only kind we ever had growing up was Smuckers and gramma and I used to have it on toast with our tea in the afternoon when I got home from school. Every day until the day she died, it was our ritual as we watched the squirrels dance on the porch waiting for their bites, too.
I just made your lemon-honey marmalade. It was delish.
The thought of making orange marmalade makes me happy. Looking forward to giving it a try as well. Cannot wait to gift it to friends and family this Christmas.
Absolutely love orange marmalade. Have never made it, but long to. I believe homemade is always best!