Marmalade Cocktails Food

GIN MARMALADE COCKTAIL

Steps:

• Combine the gin, lemon juice and sugar in the almost-empty marmalade jar. Cover tightly with the lid and shake well. Pour the cocktail in a glass and garnish with a strip of orange peel.

SCOTCH BONNET MARMALADE COCKTAIL

Steps:

• For the Scotch: Cut the pepper in half and add it to a jar with the Scotch, infusing for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the pepper (don't touch your eyes when handling the peppers, lest you end up like us, typing with one eye swollen, on fire with pepper oil). Trust us, this gets hot.
• For the cocktail: In a shaker with ice, add 4 ounces infused Scotch, lemon juice, marmalade and bitters, and shake vigorously. Strain into an up glass. Garnish with the tiniest slice of pepper. Sip slowly and keep a fire extinguisher on hand.

ULTIMATE SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE

Steps:

• Put the whole oranges and lemon juice in a large preserving pan and cover with 2 litres/4 pints water - if it does not cover the fruit, use a smaller pan. If necessary weight the oranges with a heat-proof plate to keep them submerged. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for around 2 hours, or until the peel can be easily pierced with a fork.
• Warm half the sugar in a very low oven. Pour off the cooking water from the oranges into a jug and tip the oranges into a bowl. Return cooking liquid to the pan. Allow oranges to cool until they are easy to handle, then cut in half. Scoop out all the pips and pith and add to the reserved orange liquid in the pan. Bring to the boil for 6 minutes, then strain this liquid through a sieve into a bowl and press the pulp through with a wooden spoon - it is high in pectin so gives marmalade a good set.
• Pour half this liquid into a preserving pan. Cut the peel, with a sharp knife, into fine shreds. Add half the peel to the liquid in the preserving pan with the warm sugar. Stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, for about 10 minutes, then bring to the boil and bubble rapidly for 15- 25 minutes until setting point is reached.
• Take pan off the heat and skim any scum from the surface. (To dissolve any excess scum, drop a small knob of butter on to the surface, and gently stir.) Leave the marmalade to stand in the pan for 20 minutes to cool a little and allow the peel to settle; then pot in sterilised jars, seal and label. Repeat from step 3 for second batch, warming the other half of the sugar first.

MARMALADE VODKA

Steps:

• Pour the vodka into a sterilised 1-litre sealable flip-top jar. Stir in the marmalade and the vanilla pod and seeds until the marmalade has mostly dissolved, and just the peel is left. Seal and leave in a cool, dark place for 48 hrs, or longer if you prefer a more bitter flavour.
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve, then bottle. Will keep for several months in a cool, dark place. Use in a cosmopolitan or breakfast martini with vermouth, or top up with sparkling water and a dash of bitters.