Kumquat Cardamom Marmalade
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Have you ever tasted a kumquat?
Kumquats are like citrus fruit in reverse: bitter-sour* on the inside yet sweet on the outside. And by outside, I mean the rind; you can eat the pith and peel! How cool is that.
So what better citrus to turn into whole-fruit marmalade than one whose rind is sweet as candy?
Not that I set out to make marmalade and decided on kumquats… On the contrary, the whole enterprise was kumquat inspired!
An abundance on a friend’s backyard tree (yes, the same backyard responsible for my bounty of apricots last summer) was too tempting to pass up. My friend had been wanting to marmalade-ize her kumquats and give the preserves away as gifts, and I was eager to help.
Besides, the bright orange kumquats dotting the little tree were so plentiful that simply snacking on a few of them, fresh and raw, wasn’t going to put much of a dent in things, despite our best efforts.
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As you bite into a kumquat, the fresh crunch of the sugary peel gives way to a small amount of sharply sour citrus juice. A seed or two surfaces from the bitter pith. The citrus oils tingle on your lips.
You could nibble away at only the peel and leave the delicate star-shaped center intact, but I prefer the contrast of bitter and sweet that you get from eating everything but the seeds; it’s what makes the marmalade so irresistible as well.
The night before our Marmalade Day, I made a list of flavors that might taste nice with kumquats (limited by my lazy reluctance to stop at a store, and thus by what I had in the house). I wanted to doctor up half of the marmalade with a little twist to it. The list included:
- rose water
- kaffir lime leaves
- cinnamon sticks
- nutmeg
- vanilla
- dried hibiscus flowers
- fresh mint leaves
- cardamom
Of course by now you know which of these eventually won us over. We made one batch of classic kumquat marmalade, and one with cardamom and brown sugar. (Both recipes are below.)
I still think many of the other options are good ideas, too; let me know how it turns out if you try any!
The cardamom brown sugar marmalade has a lovely balance of tart, bitter, and sweet from the modest amount of citrus juice in the kumquats. The subtle scent of cardamom adds a little warmth and intensity to the flavor.
The cardamom marmalade didn’t gel quite as nicely as the plain kumquat marmalade, but I’m still pretty happy with the texture. It might be the case that the ground cardamom kept it from gelling as well, but I’m more inclined to believe that it’s because we canned that one first, and left the classic marmalade simmering for about 20 minutes longer.
(Marmalade can take up to two weeks to fully gel; both types of jam later gelled more nicely than it seems in the photos, all of which were taken on the day of canning.)
If you like, you could skip the ground cardamom and infuse the jam using only the whole green cardamom pods. I’d still add the ground cardamom next time; I’d just give it a little more time on the stove before canning.
The marmalade is excellent on crackers, English muffins, Greek yogurt, you name it… I also had an epiphany when I was out to brunch this past weekend: I bet it would be amazing smeared onto crepes.
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* Why isn’t there a word in English for “bittersour” the way there is for “bittersweet”?
p.s. Another lovely use for kumquats was just posted last week on the blog Keep Calm and Eat On.
Print both recipes. (PDF)
RECIPES:
Kumquat Cardamom Marmalade
Makes enough to fill 3-4 half-pint jars (1½-2 pints).
Ingredients:
~ 40 kumquats (14 oz.), rinsed well, thinly sliced, and de-seeded (about 3 cups)
~ 6 cups water (or 2:1 ratio of water to chopped fruit)
~ 1 tsp. ground cardamom
~ 12-20 green cardamom pods (as many as you have the patience to fish out again later)
~ 1 cup turbinado (or brown) sugar
~ 1½ cups sugar
~ ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1½ lemons)
How to make it:
1. Rinse and thinly slice the kumquats, removing seeds from the slices as you go. In a large bowl or pot, measure out a 2:1 water-to-fruit ratio, add the ground cardamom and green cardamom pods, and let soak for 2 hours.
2. Transfer to the stove and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Then fish out and remove each of the green cardamom pods.
3. Stir in the sugars and fresh lemon juice, then bring back to a boil and cook over medium-high heat until the marmalade starts to gel (this could take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes).
4. To can: ladle hot marmalade into hot, sterilized quarter-pint or half-pint jars, leaving ¼” headspace, and process in a boiling water canning bath for 10 minutes. (Read my Canning 101 post about Strawberry Jam for more information on home canning.) Store canned marmalade in a cool, dark pantry, or refrigerate once open.
(Once canned, marmalade might take up to two weeks to fully gel.)
Kumquat Marmalade
Makes enough to fill 3-4 half-pint jars (1½-2 pints).
Ingredients:
~ 40 kumquats (14 oz.), rinsed well, thinly sliced, and de-seeded (about 3 cups)
~ 6 cups water (or 2:1 ratio of water to chopped fruit)
~ 2½ cups sugar
~ ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1½ lemons)
[Follow instructions as above, but leave out the cardamom.]
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Print both recipes! (PDF)
Related recipe posts:
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| Canning 101: Strawberry Jam | Blood Orange Tart | Rhubarb Blood Orange Ginger Jam (& Sourdough Epi Baguettes) | Cara Cara Cocktail (two ways) |
spontaneous tomato 
Ooh I love kumquats! This sounds delicious.
Thanks! I love them too– and they are a newfound love, since I’d never tried a kumquat before moving to California!
gorgeous photos! I want it right now on a big hunk of bread.
Thanks! Oh man, me too… but we (uncharacteristically) have no bread in the house! (It’s because Paula is the baker but she’s had a finger injury this week and can’t knead dough…) I don’t think she’d forgive me for buying storebought bread, so while we wait out the injury, I’ll be enjoying some of the marmalade with plain Greek yogurt.
that sounds yummy too! xo
Fabulous post! Fabulous recipe! I love kumquats too!
Thank you! :) Kumquats are weird and addictive and awesome.
This is so inspiring! What a great list of ideas for kumquat marmalade. Cardamom is hard to beat though.
Thanks! I know, it was a unanimous (of two) decision to use cardamom in the end. :) I think our second runner up was mint!
Never tried or heard of kumquats (I even had to look it up in the english to spanish dictionary)!but it looks delicious!im a big fan of orange marmalade so I bet I would love this one!
Nice! You got me curious, so I just looked it up in an English to Spanish dictionary, too. :) And yes, anyone who loves orange marmalade is pretty much guaranteed to love this, too!
Kumquats are my guilty pleasure my friend, this marmalade looks fantastic :D
Cheers
CCU
Thanks, Uru! How could kumquats be a “guilty” pleasure, though? They’re citrus fruit– and not even very sweet as citrus fruits go– so I think you can still feel pretty healthy, even after eating a lot of them. :)
I only ever tried a Kumquat for the first time ever recently (they’re very hard to get here). I was very impressed by them, and now am very impressed with your marmalade, it seems lovely!
Thanks! You’re in Barcelona, right? I used to live there for a while, too, and I must never have seen kumquats there– unless I wasn’t paying attention– since I don’t even think I knew what a kumquat looked like until I moved to California. (This Barcelona/kumquat conversation just gave me an idea though– if you can find them there, I bet they’d be so good sliced into sangria!)
It would go really well with sangria! I had one yesterday and I’ll post it if the photos turn out fine.
Beautiful and delicious – it looks fantastic!
Thanks, Anne!
It’s been a while since I’ve eaten kumquats. I do love them though, and you’re right… the marmalade is something special! The idea of adding cardamom is beautiful. I also like the list of other ingredients that you considered adding – especially the cinnamon, rosewater and vanilla! Yum! Great photos. When I can get my hands on some kumquats, I’m making this lovely recipe. Thanks!
Yay, thanks! I’m so happy to hear that. Please let me know if you end up trying something other than cardamom, and how it turns out! :)
Definitely will let you know Allison! Thanks!! :)
Kumquats are amazing and some of my favorite fruits – adding cardamom to the marmalade sounds delicious! Gorgeous photos too!
Thank you, Sunny!
Wow – I make seville orange marmalade but have never made cumquat. love the idea of adding spices for extra zing!
Nice! Seville orange marmalade sounds amazing, too. I love the bitter/sour/sweet combination. The spices might not be necessary, but they’re definitely fun to play with!
This marmalade looks absolutely gorgeous and very pretty. I certainly wouldn’t mind getting one as a present, although I’ve never had the pleasure of trying a kumquat.
Also, I’ve never heard of using hibiscus flowers in cookery but it sounds like a very clever and fascinating idea. I suppose using them would be similar to using rose water or lavender? When I make this recipe I’ll probably use kaffir lime leaf or cardomon and brown sugar like you’ve done, thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for commenting, Sean! I think hibiscus flowers are more often used in drinks than in food, but they’re definitely used in many parts of the world– in hibiscus tea in Egypt and in Mexican agua de jamaica. (Whoa, I just searched and came across this Wikipedia page— I guess hibiscus tea is popular in a LOT of different countries…) Hibiscus is also used– in small amounts– mixed with other flavors in “zinger” storebought tea bags that are pretty common in the U.S. at least (lemon zinger, orange zinger, raspberry zinger, etc.), and it can be used to make bitters for cocktails– something that I didn’t realize until a friend gave me a gift of her homemade hibiscus/grapefruit bitters!
I bought my dried hibiscus flowers (which I’ve still never tried using) on a whim a while back at a local Mexican grocery store.
Some beautifully constructed photos there! Yum! x
Thank you! :)
Mum used to have lots of kamquat trees. We would just pluck it off the tree to make some juice. Marmalade sounds like a good idea to use up the lot :)
Oo, lucky! I can imagine it would take a LOT of kumquats to make any decent amount of juice though… (although my friend’s tree definitely had plenty to spare, even after our marmalade-making!)
I always felt a bit embarrassed asking for kumquats in the store….it sounds a bit naughty. I will have to ask though to make this!! Thanks!
Haha, I have to agree with you there; “kumquat” does sound naughty. Still worth asking about though, like you said! :)
Hi there! Your posts are always beautiful! I’m passing along the One Lovely Blog Award to you. :)
Thanks so much! :)
http://chicorganicmama.com/2013/06/08/one-lovely-blog-award/
I love the idea of kumquat and cardamom marmalade. You certainly cannot get this at your average grocery store! I would so smear this on toast in the morning or even bake with it. YUM!
Yum is right! I still have two jars in my cabinets, so… I want to hear what you would bake with it!!?! :)
Thank you so much Allison for including me on your post. I’m very flattered to say the least. I am so glad you enjoyed my post this much to include along your own. Thanks again. And kumquats rock! They are so underrated. Our grocer usually brings just a small crate and half of it doesn’t get sold. That marmalade would be awesome on top of so plain vanilla ice cream too! :)
Yes! It’d be amazing on ice cream, too. (I swear I had “Greek yogurt, ice cream, you name it…”) in the post at first, but then I deleted “ice cream” since I thought that sounded too decadent. (Haha, I should have stuck with it… there’s really no such thing!)
That’s awesome you have a grocer who regularly stocks kumquats, even if they don’t all get sold! I agree, they are completely underrated.
Yum. I have a little stash of kumquats that I mean to make marmalade with if I don’t eat them all first. :)
Nice! Even a small batch of marmalade would be worth it I think, but then again if you only have enough to either make marmalade or eat them raw, that’d be one tough decision… :)
Yumness! Kumquats are the best! I made a marmalade with kumquats, vanilla and vodka – had it for brekkie this morning in fact on hot buttered toast. Totally going to try your version next – it sounds amazing!
Oo, yum! Vodka is one thing I didn’t think to add to my list, but that combination sounds amazinggg…. I was so close to making a vanilla version that I might try (half a batch with mint and half a batch of) your version next year!
would you believe, i’ve never had kumquats before? i do have a major major canning project this summer and your tips are fantastic, i will definitely be referring to it prior to the whole process.
Oh man, you should try to find kumquats so you can taste them! What’s your major canning project? Whatever it is, I’m looking forward to reading about it on your blog… :)
i’m giving away little jars of homemade blueberry jam as favors at my wedding this autumn. blueberries are my beloved’s all time favorite fruit and i just personally love tackling a new challenge, so this favor will represent the both of us. i’m torn between keeping it very simple with just plain blueberries or adding in another flavor component. i’m a simple girl…
Wow, that is such a nice idea for a wedding favor; I love it! It’s also wonderful that you could find something that will represent both of you so nicely. Maybe you should make some little test batches of blueberry jam with different flavors like vanilla, cardamom, almond, lime zest, etc., but just put one additional flavor in each, and see what you like!
That sounds delicious!
Thanks!
très bonne recette et j’adore les kumquat ! :)
:) I do, too; thank you!
such a delicious and gorgeous looking marmalade; love kumquat, and your recipe is a keeper! I was thinking of you as I posted a stuffed tomato recipe, all things tomato reminds me of you : )
Aw, thank you! I am honored that tomato recipes can remind you of me. :)
I’ve never had kumquats before but this sounds like a nice reason to try them..
Yes! This is an excellent way to try kumquats– though I’d definitely make sure to taste a few fresh and raw, too, if you can get your hands on some, because they are so tart, tasty, and unique!
I wish I had access to fresh kumquats, around here they’re kind of bland. I’m sure it’s because they’re trucked in from far away. This is a gorgeous marmalade!
That’s so sad that the kumquats you can get there are bland. The ones I’ve tried are anything but bland (!) so I find that really remarkable and sad… maybe they would still make a decent marmalade though? You could combine them with some lemons or oranges!
There is only one island in Greece that produces these delicious fruits; Corfu. They also make a liquor and it is delicious too! I am sure this marmalade has a very bold and profound taste!
Oooh, I think kumquat liquor sounds amazing! I would love to (visit Greece and) try that someday! :)
Thanks for posting this!
beautiful! I have never tried this fruit but sounds delicious. Thanks for taking the time to document this!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. :) And if you ever get the chance to try fresh (or marmalade-ized) kumquats, I say definitely go for it!