Here are the recipes as promised from the ABC cooking talkback this morning – cumquat cordial and marmalade and spiced cherries for using unripe cherries:

Cumquat Cordial

Recipe from “A Year on the Farm” (ABC Books/HarperCollins Publishers)

This cordial has wonderful colour and flavor.  Serve one part cordial syrup with 4 parts chilled water or soda water for a refreshing drink.

1.5kg sugar

4 cups boiling water

500g cumquats

1 tablespoon (rounded) citric or tartaric acid

Method

Place the sugar, water and acid in a large bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 

Chop the cumquats finely and stir into the mixture.  (I use a food processor to chop them, more or less purée actually).  Leave to stand until cool, the strain through a fine sieve, pushing down on the pulp so that maximum flavor is captured.

Pour into sterilized bottles and seal immediately.

Refrigerate after opening.

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Cumquat Marmalade

500g cumquats, washed

1.5 litres water

Juice 1 large lemon

1.5kg sugar

Method

Slice the cumquats finely, removing seeds as you go and set those aside in a cup.

Place the prepared cumquats in a large saucepan or jam pan and pour the water over them.  Place the pips in a piece of muslin and tie the top with a piece of cotton or string to make a bag.  Add to the saucepan.  Leave to stand overnight.

Next day, bring to mixture to the boil and then simmer for 25 minutes.  Remove the bag of pips.  Stir in the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring.  Boil briskly for 25 minutes or until setting point is reached.

Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal immediately.

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Spiced Cherries

The cherries from this recipe are delicious served with poultry or game meats.
This recipe takes a little extra effort in the preparation, but is well worth it. Other fruits can be substituted for the cherries; for instance pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots or quinces.

The first step is to make Spiced Vinegar, as follows:

500ml white vinegar

6 cloves

3 bay leaves

1½ teaspoons  ground cinnamon

1½teaspoons ground cardamom

1½ teaspoons ground coriander

1½ teaspoons ground allspice

(Other spices can be used – adjust according to your preference)

Combine all above ingredients in a large pot. Bring to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat, cover with a lid and leave to infuse for two or three hours.

Strain the vinegar through one layer of muslin. You are now ready to proceed with the rest of the recipe, which is easy.

For the Spiced Cherries and Spiced Cherry Syrup

2 kg  cherries

A strip of lemon rind

A strip of orange rind

1kg  sugar

500 ml spiced vinegar

Combine the spiced vinegar, sugar and lemon rind in a very large pot – you may even like to divide the mixture between two pots.

 Bring to the boil, stirring to ensure that the sugar is dissolved.  Add the cherries to the liquid and simmer till just tender.

Strain off the liquid, then pack the cherries firmly into sterilised jars. Return the vinegar mixture to the heat, bring back to the boil and cook a further 5 minutes.  Pour the mixture over the cherries, then seal.