Kumquat Marmalade Recipe [+VIDEO] 🥭 MasalaHerb.com (2024)

A homemade kumquat marmalade recipe with 3 ingredients to preserve those wonderful fruits.

Follow my guide to make the best and easiest marmalade from scratch at home.

Do you love marmalades? Then check out my lemon marmalade and orange marmalade recipes!

📕 What are Kumquats?

Kumquats are small citrus fruits that resemble small oranges or clementines.

They are usually the size of a medium to large-sized olive and grow on a small tree.

The skin is delicate and edible so you con't need to peel the fruit.

The fruit comes from southeast Asia, China and Japan, yet over the years it has been popularized in Europe and the North American continent.

The trees look rather cute and can hold well over 20 fruits. We bought one of these for 20 bucks for my mum.

The tree was full of kumquats and the best way to enjoy them is in the form of marmalade.

🍋 Ingredients + Flavor Variations

This recipe is without artificial pectin added and just requires 3 main ingredients.

Kumquat

You will need fresh ripe kumquats. The fruits shouldn't be hard but slightly soft to the touch.

I used a large round kumquat variety, they are called meiwa but you can use any other kumquat variety that you like.

Sugar

Use regular sugar that you have at home. Sugar is essential because it helps in preserving the marmalade for a long period.

This is why I don't recommend reducing the sugar quantity in this recipe or switching it with honey or any other sweetener.

Lemon Juice

We also add lemon juice to bring out flavors and help preserve the jam.

Lemon juice, as well as the kumquat fruit, are rich in natural pectins, which in turn helps in preserving your marmalade.

Other Ingredients that you can add

Besides the base recipe, you can make this marmalade the way you like it by enhancing it with some flavors.

Here are some ideas, I didn't add these in the video but you are free to make it your way:

• dash cinnamon or a cinnamon stick
• one star anise
• dash Chinese five spice
• dash grand marnier or cointrau
• inch fresh ginger grated

🔪 How to make Kumquat Marmalade?

Here is an overview on how you can make your own kumquat marmalade.

It's a small batch recipe. The US and metric measurements can be adjusted for larger quantities, which are located in the recipe card further below.

Step 1

Rinse your kumquats to get rid of impurities stuck on the skin.

Slice your fruits into thin slices.

Place fruits with sugar and lemon juice in a pot over the heat and mix up.

Step 2

Bring to a rolling boil.

Reduce heat a bit and allow to cook until fruits start to appear translucent.

Blend marmalade to desired consistency with a stick blender.

Step 3

Test if marmalade is set or still running.

Prepare clean sterilized jars and lids and pour hot kumquat preserve into the jars. I drop some liquor into the lids to kill all microbes.

Close and lock jars, turn upside down to create a vacuum (french/European technique, see preserving below).

Watch how to video (pops up) for all the details.

🍱 Preserving + Storing

We use the french/European technique to preserve our marmalades and jams.

That means the jam is filled into the jars, locked and turned upside down quickly. This technique creates a vacuum in your jam.

When the jars have cooled down a bit, turn them back and store them in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight. We keep them in shelves in a storage room.

You can also preserve them further with the help of the water bath canning technique.

We don't use it for jams in Europe but rather for whole fruits and veggies. this is because the jam has been cooked to the setting point and the vacuum technique is safe enough.

If you work in a clean environment and exactly as per my instructions, you won't need to do a water bath canning.

Note that the FDA in the US recommends water bath canning, the EU's public health division doesn't recommend it for jams.

🍯 Equipment

• a large pot
• wooden spoon with long handle
• jam glass jars with suitable lids. Aluminum lids are best.
• a jam funnel (optional but helpful)
• ladle

💡 Ideas to use your marmalade

I simply love a teaspoon of this preserve over my breakfast bread but it has so many other great uses!

You can use the marmalade as a pastry filling, as in stuffed donuts or in dutch cream cheese pastries.

It makes a great filling in cakes too or in cookies as in the Linzer cookies or thumbprint cookies.

A teaspoon sweetens your plain homemade yogurt or you can add a layer of it in creamy glass jar desserts.

The kumquat marmalade can be used in savory meals too, to glaze ham or other meats.

Or make it a base ingredient for your dipping sauce, in the spirit of the sweet-sour sauce from McDonald's.

💭 FAQs

📖 Recipe