Carrot Marmalade Delight

Carrot Marmalade is an unusually delicious treat that utilizes fresh carrots from the garden, sweetened naturally with pineapple, lightly spiced with nutmeg and allspice, all the while balanced with zesty fresh lemon. It's wonderful on toasted english muffins, buttered muffin halves or as a glaze for grilled pork or chicken.


                           
You'll Need:
2 Lemons
4 c. shredded fresh carrots
4 c. sugar
2 c. crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 pouch Liquid Pectin

To begin, wash the lemons thoroughly, then peel them, keeping most of the pith intact. The pith, if you're not familiar, is the white coating on the underside of the lemon peel. Thinly slice the peeling into strips, then set them aside until needed.

Squeeze the lemons, reserving the juice. You'll need 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice in all.


In a large stockpot, combine the thinly sliced lemon peel, lemon juice (1/3 c.), shredded carrots, sugar, well drained pineapple, allspice and nutmeg over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar fully dissolves.

Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the pot to a boil . Stir in the liquid pectin, return to a rolling boil and boil it hard for One full minute, stirring constantly. Immediately remove it from the heat, skim off any foam that has accumulated on the top, (if any!). Stir the marmalade for 2 minutes.


Immediately ladle into hot prepared sterile jars, leaving a headspace of 1/4 inch. Adjust the two-piece caps on top and process the marmalade for 10 minutes in aBoiling water canner.


If you'd like to slightly alter the recipe and make Carrot Cake Jam instead:

Omit the allspice completely, increase the nutmeg to 1/2 tsp instead of 1/4 tsp and add also the following:

2/3 c. chopped Pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves