Sunday 12 February 2017

Mosaic Monday # 27 - so then this happened.

I have a friend who lives in the UK who likes to make marmalade in January, usually she makes a Seville orange marmalade because Seville oranges are at their best at this time of year.
Last month however she went "off piste" and pink grapefruit and gin marmalade was the result.
After seeing pix on Facebook I decided to make some myself, well February is Grapefruit month after all.
I asked google to find me a quick and easy recipe and discovered one on the aptly named "gintime -  the site for gin lovers everywhere".

Pink Gin Marmalade
  • 1 kg pink grapefruit
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 3 litres water
  • 1.5 kg white sugar
  • 100 ml Gin
This will fill about 4 1lb jars, but it is good to have a couple of spare ones just in case or a selection of big and small jars.
First of all give the rinds a really good scrub in some hot water to removes the wax. Cut the grapefruits and lemon in half and juice them. Remove all the loose bits inside but leave the white pith on the peel. Chop the grapefruit into strips. Place the peel and juices into a big pan and pour over the water. Put the pips of the fruit into a piece of muslin and secure with a string and place this in the pan (the pips contain pectin which helps the marmalade set). Bring the contents of the pan to the boil and then simmer gently for about two and a half hours. By this time the fruit should be soft and transparent and the liquid will have reduced by a third.
Take off the heat and add the sugar. Stir and allow to sit for a moment to dissolve. While you are doing this, set your oven to 150C or gas 2. Wash the jars in hot soapy water then rinse but do not dry. Place the jars upside down in the oven and leave them for 30 mins, then switch the oven off and use them while they are still hot. When you take them out of the oven make sure they are not placed on metal – use a wooden chopping board.
Give the fruit a good stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved, bring to the boil and then allow to simmer. You now need to watch out for the setting point. It is difficult to put an exact time on this as it depends on the size and shape of your pan and how much you are making. If you have a sugar thermometer use this and look out for it reaching 106C. Otherwise test for the setting point every few minutes by placing a drop of the liquid on a chilled saucer, place the saucer in the fridge for a moment and then push your finger through it. If it crinkles then it is at setting point. Once this is reached take the pan off the heat immediately. Allow the marmalade to sit for 20 minutes before stirring in the gin and pouring it into the jars. Seal the jars immediately and carefully (because they will be very hot) turn them upside down to create a vacuum in the jar. Allow to cool, then store in a cool, dark place.

Prepping 3 large grapefruits took longer than I thought it would but I got a lot of juice out of them and when I got the hang of it the messy stuff from inside came away fairly easily.
I added the water and the muslin bag with a very few pips in.
so then this happened..............
I tipped the sugar into the juice and put the pan on the gas stove.
Help! I'd missed out one very important step.
Bring the contents of the pan to the boil and then simmer gently for about two and a half hours. By this time the fruit should be soft and transparent and the liquid will have reduced by a third. Take off the heat and add the sugar. Stir and allow to sit for a moment to dissolve.
Well, I cooked that sugary fruity peel for 5 hours and all I got was a thick syrup with peel in it!
I left it (and me) to cool overnight and woke up the next morning determined not to give up.

Pinterest provided the inspiration needed to save the day.
After straining the strips of grapefruit peel from the syrup, I baked some in a cake to have with tea that afternoon and froze the rest to add to more cakes and desserts in the future.
The syrup was poured into freezer containers and was magically transformed into the most delicious, palest pink grapefruit and gin sorbet, voila!


oh, yes you can!


23 comments:

  1. Great save with very tasty results Maggie. Thank you for your 27th Mosaic Monday - and Happy Valentine's Day on Tuesday.
    Joy

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  2. Oh Maggie, what a pickle! You certainly made a purse from a sow's ear with that sorbet. It looks wonderful. I purchased some Seville oranges today and hope to make marmalade for the very first time tomorrow. Wish me luck!
    Thanks for hosting, Maggie. Have a wonderful week!

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  3. What a save! Fabulous story..well recovered! X

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  4. Thanks most sincerely for hosting, darling friend and thank you for such a precious recipe, you always make my day !

    I'm sending blessings of joy on your coming days

    Xx Daniela at - My little old world - ( Dany )

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  5. Oh dear Maggie what a disaster turned into something good in the end. I'm glad you were able to salvage the juice and make something equally wonderful, plus more to use in the future.

    Have a wonderul week!

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  6. Dearest Maggie; Wow、"Yes you can!". My cousin grows varieties of oranges on his orchard. We (my husband and I) just enjoy their taste by it-selves (^^;)V
    Thank you SO much for the phrase, we do have saying with the same meaning using vegetables p:-)

    Thank you so much for hosting and Wishing you will Have a wonderful new week♪
    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend, xoxo Miyako*

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  7. oh dear !
    your recipe is mouthwatering!!!
    it reminded me times when my late mom used to make marmalade lot.
    thank you for sharing.
    you have amazingly managed blog here .i enjoyed my visit

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  8. I used to always make marmalade when we lived in England, so delicious. But now I just buy the ones that I like. You were very resourceful turing a near disaster into something delicious for now and later.

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  9. All is not lost. That was a great save, Maggie! I think I've made marmalade only once. I always make jam from our raspberries and strawberries, and we buy peaches in the fall in order to make jam from them. I'll have to try marmalade. I bet it's way better than store bought!

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  10. Nice rescue! I'd prefer sorbet and tea cake to marmalade any day. The pictures of both make my mouth water. Florida Grapefruit are plentiful and good this month too. But being both uncreative and lazy , I just cut them in half for breakfast. Thank you for hosting.

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  11. The sorbet looks amazing! Good for you! And I'm with Sallie...we both live in Florida...I love fruit but just cut it and eat it! lol Happy MM!!! Hugs, Diane

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  12. Well those grapefruits went a long way. It all looks delicious, Maggie!
    Thanks for hosting.

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  13. Lovely sweet and delicious desserts, Maggie! I must learn how to make them. Especially the cake; it looks similar with our cocoa cake. It must be so yummy...
    Thanks for sharing and Have a lovely new week ahead!

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  14. Thank you for hosting, Maggie, and as always, a nice post.

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  15. Magic Maggie to the rescue! The sorbet and the cake look scrumptious, so all is well. Thanks for hosting and have a wonderful week!

    Poppy

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  16. Great save and the sorbet looks so delicious. I'm going to have to check out the link you shared because someone at this old house enjoys her gin. Not saying who...

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  17. Love my orange marmalade with toast here Maggie. You will be happy to have those grapefruit strips from the freezer when you are ready to use in a recipe, work all done! The sorbet looks delish. Sorry I don't have new post to join the fun but stopped in to say hello.
    Happy Valentine's Day........and a good week.

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  18. Great save! Way to improvise!

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  19. Maggie, Good for you for sticking with it. Marmalade is my favorite jam. Thanks for sharing. Sylvia D.

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  20. Oh you did good! I imagine everything was very tasty. I love pink grapefruit anything...the sorbet especially looks SO refreshing!

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  21. I'm thinking that has to taste really, really good!

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Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!