'Healthy' Carrot Marmalade

Video HERE

I make a number of preserves - mainly for flavouring chocolates - and my favourite marmalade recipe is essentially 'blend the fruit to a puree, add equal weight of sugar and water and boil to 105C' - and works with any citrus fruit. Traditional marmalade does not use any added pectin because there is a lot in the pith of citrus fruits.

Recently I have decided to try and reduce the amount of sugar in everything I make. I found a carrot marmalade recipe online and I wondered if I could combine them... this is my experimental recipe, which came out OK... I have notes for future attempts after the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Oranges
2 Lemons
450-500g Carrots
4 Cardamom Pods
400g Granulated Sugar
1ltr Water
2" Root Ginger

Method:

1. THE NIGHT BEFORE - Remove the zest from the fruit, then cut in half and remove any pips* before squeezing the juice into a blender. Cut the fruit into 1/4's and drop into the blender as well. Add a splash of water and blend to a puree, then tip into a bowl.
2. Trim the top and bottom off the carrots then grate coarsely** then add to the bowl.
3. Crush the cardamom and split the pods open, add to the bowl with the sugar.
4. Chop the peel into fine shards, then add to the bowl. Mix well, cover and leave for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
5. THE NEXT DAY - Tip the bowl into a large pan, add the water***. Chop the ginger into chunky pieces**** then add to the pan.
6. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1 hour.
7. Wash and rinse your jars and lids, then transfer to the oven at GM1/70C*****.
8. Increase the heat and stir occasionally until it reaches 105C.
9. Remove the ginger then carefully ladle into jars - within 1cm(1/4") of the top - screw on the lids and leave to cool.

* I always remove the pips because they usually escape the blender unharmed. They do contain some pectin so if you want to wrap them in a bundle and add them to the pan you can - just don't forget to fish them out before jarring.
** Beyond removing the top and bottom I don't bother peeling carrots unless they've been around a while and are looking worse for storage.
*** Feel free to add more water - see notes below.
**** Chunky ginger will release plenty of flavour, but if you want it stronger cut it relatively fine and leave it in.
***** Or run the jars through a hot dishwasher cycle and fill whilst still hot from the machine.

Notes

This produced an OK marmalade, not particularly pretty - and I miss the clear jelly with floating peel that I normally make, but I think next time I can definitely do it better...

• Separate the peel as usual and puree the fruit, but transfer to a muslin bag to keep the jelly clear.
• More spice required.
• Add at least double the water into the pan.
• Boil slightly longer, to 108C in order to extract more pectin from the pith.

For a first attempt at a diabetic Frankenstein recipe this isn't bad - it just looks ugly in the jar!

Beanbags

Video HERE

A basic beanbag is a wonderful thing for lounging around on, however the more basic your bag the more likely a bean explosion, so I do suggest that you always double-bag and reinforce the seams. This is how I make them...

These patterns are for small bags which hold about 3 cubic feet (90cm3) of beans, although it is easy to increase the sizes to suit your needs.

You will need:
Lining Fabric*
Outer Fabric**
Scissors
Pins
Matching thread
Sewing Machine
2x6" (15cm) Zip***
Polystyrene Beans

*The lining can be anything you want, although I prefer a plain cotton, usually old bedsheets. Bottom fabrics can be a little thicker if you want.
**Use an upholstery fabric, ideally something sturdy that won't shed fibres or fray excessively.
***I usually just go for a drawstring-style top to the bags, but on this occasion I was asked to use zips instead, which I think look slightly more professional in the long run, just remember to cover the ends when you sew them in and stitch the zip closed once it's filled.

Method:

1. Draw out your pattern pieces - unless you're going for a particular pattern or using fabric remnants try to avoid separate pieces as much as possible to reduce the risk of seam failure. The lining in particular should be arranged on one piece of fabric as demonstrated above.
2. Fold over the top point of each section, leaving a small opening with a neat edge at the top of each bag before you pin the sections together.
3. Sew the sections together first with a straight stitch, then follow up just beyond the first with a zig-zag stitch.
4. You'll find some difference in size between the sides and base circle, just pleat the extra in as you go around, it won't show once its filled.
5. Leave an opening for the zip if you're using them, be careful to contain the open end in a strip of fabric to keep it neat.
6. Fold over the handle strip and sew along its length then turn through the right-side out and fold over into a loop. Put the loop into the top of the lining bag and sew across the opening.*
7. Turn both bags right-side out and push the lining inside the outer, pull the handle though the top of the bag and align the zips together for filling.**
8. Fill the inner bag with polystyrene beans, pull the zip closed and sew through the loop into the fabric, then close the outer zip and sew it closed.
9. Make sure the inner bag is sitting evenly inside the outer bag then sew a line of stitches along the bottom of the handle to tidy up the top.

*Obviously, if you're not using a zip then you can't sew the handle in until the bag is filled.
**To make filling easier I use safety pins to hold the openings in place.