Tomato marmalade was something I wanted to make from the first time I saw the recipe. It definitely qualified as a “new recipe”. I love trying new things. In canning it seems like there isn’t much out there that I would qualify as unusual. So not only was this a “new recipe”, but also something “unique and out of the ordinary”. Now it was even more appealing. This was a great recipe to make with just a few tomatoes, which I happened to have after the last of the major canning was done.
Since this was a marmalade recipe, and the first time I was trying to make it, I decided to get the scale out and make it according to the weights called for in the recipe. This was a great purchase many years ago. I may not use it often, but over the years it has been worth it. I think this came from an auction or yard sale, so I didn’t have to pay full price for it. If you have read this blog for any length of time you will know that I try not to pay full price if I can help it.
The recipe called for the lemons and oranges to be sliced thin. Not exactly specific. The first few slices ended up too thin and actually not full circles. As I was trying to make them perfect, yeah the p-word again, I cut them a bit thicker. Having now done this I see that it was more important to get them thin than round. It worked out okay. Next time I just won’t stress about it.
Another think I will do differently next time is to cut them in smaller pieces than quarters. I think the peels ended up being too long in the marmalade.
Tomatoes and sugar were placed in a pan and stirred until the sugar dissolved.
Once the tomatoes were cooked for a few minutes the lemons and oranges were added. The spice bag was also supposed to be added, though I forgot this the first time and had to empty all the jars and cook it a bit more.
With all the ingredients and the spice bag in the pan, it is left to cook for about 50 minutes.
The jars are so pretty with the finished product in them. I really like the resulting flavor. It may not be your typical marmalade, but is definitely full of flavor and great on toast.