Tangerine Vanilla Bean Marmalade with Triple Sec

Rejoice, people! It is Ojai Pixie Tangerine season! What are Ojai Pixie Tangerines, you might ask? Only the sweetest, juiciest tangerines on the planet and, best of all, they're seedless making them an excellent choice when making this delicious marmalade.

Making marmalade is not difficult, but it is a two-day process. On Day One you will juice, wedge, and slice the fruit, leaving it to soak overnight. On Day Two you do the cooking. I find that stretching things out makes the process seem far less labor intensive.

I came up with this recipe while nibbling a tangerine and marveling at its sweet flavor and heady aroma. It seemed to me that it would make an excellent marmalade, and I was right. It is fresh, clean, fragrant, and addicting. Make sure you have lots of biscuits on hand!

Tangerine Vanilla Bean Marmalade

with Triple Sec

2 pounds Melissa's Ojai Pixie tangerines
1 Meyer lemon

1 cup juice from tangerines and lemon
3-2/3 cups water
1/3 cup Triple Sec (or any orange liqueur)
1-1/2 vanilla beans
3 1/2 cups sugar

It is very important to scrub the flesh of your fruit before beginning. Ideally organic fruit is the best.

After scrubbing and drying, quarter the tangerines and lemon. Cut off the stem ends and discard. Squeeze the juice from the tangerines and lemon into a glass measuring cup (This will keep your cutting area from becoming a soppy mess, and will give you the delicious juice to use in the marmalade. I got exactly one cup of juice from my tangerines.*) and then slice them into 1/4" lengths. I sliced crosswise giving me shorter lengths, but you can really do as you please.

Place citrus slices into a large bowl and cover with juice, water and Triple Sec. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand at room temperature 1 day.

Transfer fruit mixture to heavy large pot. Split vanilla beans and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Cut the whole vanilla bean into three lengths, and the half vanilla bean into two lengths, and add to the pot.  (Each of these vanilla bean sections will later be added to the individual jars of marmalade.)

Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until rind is very tender and fruit begins to fall from rind, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and add sugar, stirring until it dissolves completely. Return mixture to a low, but constant boil, and boil gently until mixture reaches 218º-220ºF, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Divide vanilla beans and boiling hot marmalade among five 1-cup jars. Cover tightly and process for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 3 months.

*If you get less than 1 cup of juice from squeezing, supplement with water to make a full cup of liquid. Conversely, if you get more juice, then cut back on the water. Essentially, you want 5 cups of liquid that includes the juice, the water, and the Triple Sec.

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