Recipe: Calamondin Preserves, Marmalade, Preserved Whole Calamondins, and Calamondin Jelly

CALAMONDIN PRESERVES

2 pounds whole calamondins
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
4 cups water
Boiling water

Wash whole fruit thoroughly. Sprinkle fruit with baking soda. Cover with boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes.

Drain off soda water. Rinse well in cold water. Drain well. Puncture each calamondin with a sharp skewer, making two holes almost through the fruit. Or slit a small cross in stem end of fruit. This prevents fruit from splitting while cooking and allows syrup to penetrate. Drop into boiling water to cover. Cook until tender. Drain.

Boil sugar and water together 10 minutes. Add calamondins. Cook until fruit is transparent in appearance. Cover tightly. Let stand in syrup 24 hours to plump fruit. Reheat to boiling. Pack in sterilized pint jars and process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Note: This recipe also does well with a mixture of calamondins and kumquats.

Source: University of Florida / IFAS Sarasota County Extension

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CALAMONDIN MARMALADE

Select four cups of firm fruit, free of blemishes. Wash; cut in half. Remove seeds. Slice thinly or put through food chopper. Measure fruit. Place in saucepan. For each cup of fruit, add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cook 15 minutes. You may let stand overnight or cook into marmalade immediately. This makes about 6 cups of stock.

TO MAKE THE MARMALADE:
Measure 3 cups of stock into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add 3 cups of sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Cook rapidly to 220 degrees on a candy or jelly thermometer. Remove from heat.

Pour into sterilized 1/2 pint jars and close with 2-piece lids; process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes about 4 half-pint jars
Source: Mary Keith, Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service

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PRESERVED WHOLE CALAMONDINS
Source: Mary Keith, Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service

To keep flavor and color, it is best to cook in small amounts, as in this recipe. Never try to do more than twice the recipe.

2 cups fresh calamondins
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 stick cinnamon (optional)
1 lemon sliced thinly (optional)

Wash and drain fruit. Cut small gash crosswise in each calamondin. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Drain. Make a syrup of sugar and water. Add cinnamon and lemon. Drop calamondins into syrup. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes. Cover and let stand overnight.

Cook again, uncovered, for 10 minutes and let stand to "plump" at least overnight. Bring to a boil again and cook until fruit is clear and syrup is thick.

Pack into sterilized canning jars while hot. Cover with hot syrup and tighten lids. Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

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CALAMONDIN ORANGE PRESERVES AND CALAMONDIN JELLY
Source: Post and Courier, 1/22/2006

Mulloy Christopher of Goose Creek also has two prolific calamondin trees. He passes along a recipe he ran across:

CALAMONDIN ORANGE PRESERVES

Weigh the fruit. The recipe is for 3 pounds. Separate the pulp from the skins. Cover skins with fresh water and simmer until skins are tender. If you do not like the bitter taste of the peel, drain several times during cooking and replace with fresh water. When skins are tender, slice fine and set aside.

Meanwhile, cover the pulp with 3 cups of water and simmer for 30 minutes.

Strain out the pulp and discard. Add to resulting juice 3 cups of water. Allow to each cup of juice, 3/4 cup heated sugar. Heat the juice and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the cut-up skins and cook until syrup jells.

Pour in sterilized pint jars and process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Ruth Swink of Charleston was served a "yummy" calamondin jelly many years ago in Lakeland, Fla., and went home with the recipe:

CALAMONDIN JELLY

1 cup ground calmondin orange and juice
3 cups water, or 2 cups water and 1 cup pineapple juice
4 cups sugar

Boil ground calamondin, juice and liquid for 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until it turns into jelly, about 20 minutes.

Pour in sterilized pint jars and process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.