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Melon marmalade is everyone's favorite delicacy, but it is much better if it is made at home. Thanks to natural ingredients and complete control over the process, you get a clean, low-calorie dessert that can be enjoyed even by a child.
Nuances and secrets of making melon marmalade for the winter
Each hostess has her own little secrets that help to surprise guests and households with incredible taste or original presentation. Melon marmalade also has its own nuances. Here is some of them:
- To prevent the fruits from sticking to the bottom of the pan during boiling, it is better to take an enameled dish with a thick bottom and stir the composition constantly.
- For those who follow their figure or do not tolerate foods with a high glycemic index for health reasons, sugar in the recipe can be replaced with fructose. It is slightly better perceived by the body, however, you should not get carried away even with such sweetness.
- Multilayer marmalade looks advantageous: for its preparation, you can alternately fill in mixtures of different colors, waiting for each layer to harden. Pieces of fruit, berries, nuts or coconut can be placed between the layers.
- Spices such as cinnamon, cloves and ginger, as well as lemon or orange peel, will make the sweetness much more delicious.
- To prevent gelatin from sticking to the dishes, it is better to pour it into a wet container. In order for the powder to dissolve well, it is better to pour water into gelatin, and not vice versa.
- The freezer is the wrong place for marmalade to solidify. It should thicken gradually, and a refrigerator is better for this.
- Agar-agar is a gelatin substitute. It is more useful to purchase it in flakes or powder, so the likelihood of meeting a natural product increases. For baby treats, it is better to choose agar-agar - it is more useful for the gastrointestinal tract.
- To choose a tasty and ripe melon, you need to smell the place where the pedicel used to be (where the smell is most intense): it should smell like sweet and ripe juice. If there is almost no smell or it is weak, then the fruit is not yet ripe.
Marmalade is not only tasty, but also a healthy product. Pectin, which is formed by the digestion of water from fruits, is useful for lowering bad cholesterol, it fights infections in the gastrointestinal tract, and helps cleanse the body of heavy metals. Regular consumption of natural marmalade improves digestion. This sweetness restores strength after fatigue and physical exertion, stimulates the brain due to the high content of glucose and fructose. No matter how useful this product is, it should not be consumed in large quantities by children and patients with diabetes mellitus.
Ingredients for melon marmalade
To make melon marmalade, you will need:
- melon - 0.5 kg;
- sugar - 4 tablespoons;
- lemon juice - 2 teaspoons or citric acid - 1 teaspoon;
- agar-agar - 8 g;
- water - 50 ml.
The amount of sugar can be reduced if the melon is very sweet, or, conversely, increased.
Step-by-step melon marmalade recipe
A step-by-step recipe for making marmalade will help you not to get confused in the actions, and tips will tell you how to make the cooking process easier and more productive.
- Rinse the melon with cool water, cut it in half and remove the seeds.You should peel the melon an inch deeper, grabbing a thin layer of pulp. You can cut it into medium-sized cubes.
- Pour boiled warm water into a container with agar-agar, stir thoroughly and leave for 5-10 minutes to swell.
- You can put the melon in a saucepan, sprinkle with citric acid on top, or pour out lemon juice. Add sugar and stir so that all pieces are evenly covered with sand.
- Before putting the pan on the fire, thoroughly grind the melon with an immersion blender until smooth, so that there are no lumps left. This mashed potatoes should be boiled over low heat until boiling, then allowed to boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After that, you can add agar-agar, then warm up for another 4 minutes. During this time, it is important to stir the puree continuously. When it's done, it can be poured into marmalade molds. If there are no molds, mashed potatoes can be poured into an ordinary small container, having previously lined it with cling film, so that later it will be easier to get the marmalade. After that, the product can be cut into portions with a knife.
- The molds should be refrigerated for 2 hours. It will harden longer at room temperature. To remove the marmalade, you can pry its edge with a knife, then bend the silicone mold. Ready-made melon gummies can be rolled in sugar or coconut.
Ready marmalade can be served immediately after hardening.
Terms and conditions of storage
Finished melon marmalade can be stored for up to two months. It can be kept in the refrigerator, but it won't melt at room temperature either. It is important to store it in a closed container so that it does not dry out or harden.
Conclusion
Melon marmalade is a traditional natural delicacy. It is easy to prepare, it has a long shelf life and you can be sure of the composition of the sweetness if it was prepared at home.
