Our first round of prizes have been awarded, and our schedule is becoming more standard… It wouldn’t be the Cook-Off without a few bumps! This week’s recipe we share a trade secret (though we might have shared it before)– Lori’s bread recipe! This week adds some delightful marmalade to homemade bread for a perfect companion to your morning cuppa.
Let’s jump in!
Jams, Jellies, and Marmalade, what’s the difference?
As long as people have been picking and consuming fruit, we have been trying to find a way to preserve it. There is nothing worse than planning the perfect fruit dish, only to realize your beautiful produce has gone off. Preserving the bountiful fruits of the spring and summer, allowed for essential vitamins to remain in the Colonial diet throughout the winter months. Preserving fruit this way requires three main ingredients– sugar, acid, and pectin.
Some fruits have higher levels of natural pectin that others, citrus, apples, and stone fruit typically contain higher levels of pectin. Raspberries actually contain their pectin within the seeds, which is why your raspberry jam usually keeps them intact. Interestingly, citrus and apples are also some of the highest acid fruits, which is not good for your teeth but great to create an inhospitable environment for bacteria to grow in your preserves. Much of human preservation history is about creating an environment that bacteria will not thrive in. Cheese, jams, smoked meats- they all use different methods of ensuring that no bacteria will grow on the thing you are trying to preserve.
Helen, The Countess of Sutherland, in Scotland during the 17th Century, wrote and entire recipe book. Including 3 marmalade recipes. The entire book is online to go through, but we have done the work for a good marmalade recipe for you.
Helen, Countess of Sutherland’s “How to make orieng maarmolet”
For our marmalade, we will be using some of the most traditional fruits for marmalade. Our orange and lemon marmalade is very simple and allows the fruits to shine. Pairing the marmalade with Lori’s bread was a no brain-er. If you ever visit the Colony of Avalon, our kitchen interpreters always have a bit of bread baked, or baking, over the open hearth. (Much to the chagrin of our wool-clad guides in the summer!)
We make our bread the day before, allowing it enough time to rise multiple times before we bake it fresh in the morning. While it has never been a closely guarded secret, it is something our visitors LOVE to try. Nothing beats fresh bread.
To the recipe!
Our ideal ratio is 1:1 for fruit to sugar, including the sugar that is inside of the fruit. Keep this in mind if you want to try other marmalade recipes!
Beautiful bread, fresh in the pot!- Oranges being shoved through a sieve.
- Lined up oranges
Oo la oranges
This week’s prize is a wonderful resource for historic cooks. “
Deadline for this week’s entries is 11:59 pm, Monday, August 7, 2023.
Happy Cooking!
