If you head to Cantinetta soon, while Northwest field-grown rhubarb season is still in full swing, you may be lucky enough to score the Rhubarb Zeppole with Orange Rhubarb Marmaletta. (Spellings vary. So far I’ve seen Marmeletta, Marmaletta, and Marmellata.) One word of advice here: DO NOT offer to share this dessert with your table mates. The order consists of four zeppole, and you will want four more when you’ve eaten those.

But as good as the zeppole certainly are, it’s the Marmaletta that has taken up residence in my cranium.  And what, pray tell, is Marmaletta (or Marmellata, which seems to be the most official of the various spellings)? Well, to be completely prosaic, it’s jam.  Yup, jam. The best darned jam you’ve ever tasted.

Actually, that’s not quite right. Jam is usually thick, too thick for my liking. Marmellata should be loosely set. So perhaps it’s best to think of it as a kissing cousin to a fruit confiture, condiment, conserve, or compote. All of these are simply fruit stewed in sugar. But, oh, the magic that happens when fruit meets sugar meets heat in just the right combination.

I thought of calling Caninetta’s talented pastry chef, Lorna Stokes, and asking her for the recipe—perhaps proposing a blog post around her and it. But first, I hit the web and my cookbook library. Interestingly, I found very little. (It does appear, however, that a Marmellata can be sweet-tart or savory.)

One thing led to another, as the saying goes, and I soon found myself staring at a heap of glowing orange tangelos and crimson rhubarb on the kitchen counter. Taking a cue from Chef Jerry Traunfeld of Poppy in Seattle (author of The Herbfarm Cookbook), I soaked the tangelo slices in water overnight before cooking. This step allows the rind to soften and release its pectin into the water. It’s the natural fruit pectin, when combined with sugar, correct PH (acidic), and heating to 220° (the gel point) that cause the fruit mixture to set or gel. I knew I would need plenty of pectin because while citrus fruit contains an abundance of the substance, rhubarb contains hardly any at all. It is, after all, actually a vegetable. I was prepared to add powdered pectin if the Marmellata did not set sufficiently, but it wasn’t necessary.

I have no idea whether what I just created is anywhere close to the original inspiration, and I suspect that it has a distinctly different flavor, with more emphasis on the citrus component. Regardless, this Marmellata is so beautiful on the palate, so redolent of early spring, so completely satisfying, that I can’t wish for anything better.

Jar Notes

Where oh where to get pretty canning jars? Weck has the market cornered in my estimation. The jars are absolutely elegant and yes, a bit pricey. Ball also has some pretty new options under the banner Collection Elite. I especially like the brushed silver, wide mouth, 1 cup jars. Sur La Table carries the lovely Bormioli Rocco line of Italian canning jars. For a few additional options, see Resources at the end of this post.

Safety First

As it turns out, there is now a big hoopla about the traditional canning jars that we all know and love. Canning jar lids from Ball, Kerr, Golden Harvest, and Bernardin are coated with bisphenol A. If the lid comes in contact with the food inside the jar (duh!), it’s a potential health concern. BPA-free canning jars are produced by Weck and can be ordered online (pointer below). A lot of folks also swear by the old-fashioned wire top canning jars.

On another safety note, you will find fabulous recipes by some of the best cooks that do NOT call for a final boiling water bath. Jerry Traunfeld and Christine Ferber are among these esteemed cooks. In their recipes, that step is abandoned in favor of simply turning the filled jars upside-down on a clean towel. The FDA does NOT recommend this method, however. To be on the safe side, I always include a final boiling water bath of 5-10 minutes for preserves, jams, and jellies. Of course, if you intend to refrigerate your preserves and eat them within a few weeks, you can certainly skip this step.

Quick Bites

Now that I have 5 jars of this delightful Italian marmalade, here are a few of the ways I intend to use it over the next few months:

• Serve over Maui Jim’s Cottage Cheese Pancakes.
• Slather on warm croissants or toast.
• Heap on top of cream cheese slathered, toasted bagels.
• Serve with fresh goat cheese, crostini, and a handful of ripe olives.
• Use to make a simple deglazing sauce.
• Serve over fresh ricotta, yogurt, panna cotta, cheesecake, or ice cream
• Use to make a sorbet.
• Serve alongside pound cake or financiers.
• Serve with zeppole, beignet, fritters, or donuts.
• Add to a turkey, ham, or pork sandwich.
• Serve alongside roasted pork tenderloin or chop.
• Swirl into a muffin batter.
• Serve with smoked salmon, cream cheese and crostini.
• Serve over cheese blintzes or crepes.
• Use to make an open-faced jam tart.
• Serve with a ginger soufflé.

And then there is my FAVORITE way:

• Eat with a tiny spoon right out of the jar.

I’m sure I’ll think of a few more ways before I run out of Marmellata. But for now, I’m off to look for my tiny spoon.

Rhubarb, Tangelo, & Cardamom Marmellata

This flavor combination is made in heaven. The Marmellata is intentionally on the softly set side so that it can be used as a sauce, as well as a jam. It’s so delicious that you will be tempted to slather it on everything.

4 large tangelos (or cara cara or blood oranges) (2 pounds)
2 pounds fresh rhubarb, trimmed of leaves and ends, sliced lengthwise, then sliced crosswise into ½-inch chunks (1 pound 8 ounces trimmed weight; about 6 cups chopped)
4 cups sugar
12 cardamom pods, pods removed, then ground in a mortar with pestle (2 teaspoons ground)
1-2 Serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced, optional

1. Using a mandoline or thin slicing disk of a processor, slice the tangelos as thin as possible, preferably 1/16-inch thick.
2. Stack the tangelo slices in a narrow pitcher or other container, picking out any seeds as you go, and cover with cold water. Seal the top of the container with plastic wrap and weight slices down with a heavy object to keep the top slices under water. Let soak for 12-24 hours.
3. Remove tangelos from their soaking water and cut each slice into 8 equal wedges.
4. Add the tangelo wedges and their soaking water to a large nonreactive (stainless steel) pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 30 minutes.
5. Stir in the sugar, cardamom and optional chiles and continue boiling for 15-30 minutes, until the mixture reaches 220°, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking on the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the rhubarb and simmer for 5-8 minutes. The rhubarb should be softened but not falling apart. The mixture should be somewhat thickened but not overly so. It will thicken more after a few days.
7. Sterilize your jars. Fill a large pan with water and bring to a boil. Carefully add five 1-cup capacity glass canning jars and boil for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the jars in the hot water until you are ready to use them.
8. Sterilize your bands and rings. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, remove from the heat, wait a minute, and then add five jar bands and five new canning lids. Leave the bands and rings in the hot water until you are ready to use them.
9. Using a jar lifter, remove one of the jars from the hot water and drain all water from it back into the pan. Set the jar upright on a clean towel. Ladle the hot Marmellata into the jar, filling to ¼-inch from the top. Use a damp paper towel to remove any Marmellata from the rim. Using the jar lifter again, remove a lid and band from the hot water. Set the lid on the jar and then screw the band firmly but not over tight. Fill and seal the remaining four jars in the same manner.
10. Set the jars into a large pot fitted with a canning insert, if you have one. (I used my pasta pot with its perforated insert and arranged some clean towel strips to keep the jars from clanging into each other.) Cover by 2 inches with boiling water and bring back to a boil. Boil for 5-10 minutes. (Many folks say that 5 minutes is sufficient for safety, but 10 minutes is cited in the official directions of the major jar manufacturers.)
11. Using a jar lifter, remove jars from the water bath and set on a clean towel. When cool, check the seals. If the jars are properly sealed, the center of the lid will NOT yield when you press it. Store these sealed jars in a cool, dry location for up to a year. If any jars do not seal, store them in the refrigerator and use within a few weeks.

Makes about 5 cups.

Resources

Recipes

Cooking & Recipes from Nonna’s Kitchen: Crostata di Marmellata        
The Art of Food by Alisa Barry: Meyer Lemon Limoncello Marmellata
The Art of Food by Alisa Barry: Cipolle Piccoli Marmellata 
Serious Eats by Caroline Russock: Pork Agnolotti with Tomato Marmellata and Crisp Pancetta
BlissTree by Marye Audet: Homemade Fruit Pectin for Jam and Jelly

Articles

Canning Jars by Charlotte: Canning Fruit Spreads: What is Pectin?
PickYourOwn.org: How to Make Homemade Jam Easily 
Utne Reader by Keith Goetzman: Home Canning: Pickles, Peppers, and a Dash of BPA?
Utne Reader by Keith Goetzman: FDA Might Crack Down on Bisphenol A

Blogs

Canning Across America
Consider the Pantry
Food in Jars
Hitchhiking to Heaven
If I Can, You Can
Locally Preserved
Prospect: The Pantry
Put a Lid on It
Put Up or Shut Up
Putting By
Saving the Season
Tigress Can Jam
Tigress in a Jam
Well Preserved

Books

Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber by Christine Ferber
Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty

Supplies

Canning Supplies: Lehman’s
Canning Jars: SKS
Canning Jars: Specialty Bottle
Beautiful Jars: Weck Canning
Gorgeous Custom Jar Labels: Lelo on Etsy

Whether you call them beignet, zeppoli, bunuelos, crullers, Indian frybread, elephant ears, fritters, funnel cakes, churros, or simply donuts, there is something absolutely magical about freshly fried sweet dough, whether plain, encasing a bit of fruit or chocolate, topped with sugar, or dipped into a creamy, dreamy sauce.

To keep things straight in my own mind, I divide these fried sweet doughs into five general categories:

• Yeast leavened dough
  • Elephant ears (North America)
  • Some Indian frybread (Native American)
  • Bunuelos (Spanish, Mexican)
  • Some beignet (French)
• Yeast leavened batter
  • Some beignet (French)
• Chemically leavened dough
  • Some crullers (German)
• Chemically leavened batter
  • Some Indian frybread (Native American)
  • Zeppoli (Italian)
  • Fritters (World)
  • Some beignet (French)
•  Egg leavened paste or batter
  • Churros (Spanish, Mexican)
  • Funnel cakes (Pennsylvania Dutch)
  • Choux paste beignet (French)
  • Some crullers (French)

I don’t care what they are called or from what tradition they hail. I am an unabashed lover of ALL fried sweet dough morsels. If there is an elephant ear food cart within two miles of me, I’m there in a flash. MauiJim claims we moved to downtown Portland, Oregon, within easy walking distance of the nearly year-round Saturday market, BECAUSE they serve freshly fried and sugared elephant ears AND funnel cakes every weekend. There are better reasons?

For a couple of years after we moved to Portland, there was also a tropical café downtown that served the most delectable yeast leavened beignets. I couldn’t stay away from that place. And I always ordered the six beignet bag rather than the more modest bag of three and then watched attentively as they rolled out the dough and deep fried it just for me. I mean, seriously, they were irresistible.

Now though, when I want an immediate fried dough fix and have had my fill of elephant ears and funnel cakes, I stop by Ten01 for their Lemon Scented Beignets with Olive Oil Crème Anglaise, Wildwood for their Honey-Hazelnut Sourdough Donuts with Hot Frothed Chocolate with Stumptown Coffee Liquor, or Toro Bravo for their Churros & Thick Hot Chocolate. This plethora of inspired, world-class, fried dough is the real reason I live in downtown Portland, Oregon.

But I don’t restrict fried dough consumption to Portland. When we were in Boston this past fall, I scoured every menu for any dessert even remotely resembling a donut. You can see a few of the results on the Boston Sweet page. One of my favorites, because of its incredibly light texture is the Sweet Ricotta Fritters with Chocolate Sauce & Housemade Preserves at Eastern Standard Kitchen. But I also love the Cider Donuts with Vanilla Crèma at Sorellina, the Special Brunch Donut at Craigie on Main and the simple Beignet a little further north at Duckfat in Portland, Maine.

I guess I’m not the only one in love with fried dough though, as even CHOW has noted the trend in their article, Beignets are In!.

Lucky for us home cooks that many of these sweet morsels are easy to make, especially those in the chemically leavened batter category. The only thing difficult about the following recipe, for instance, is maintaining an even 350° temperature on the oil for frying. If the oil dips below 350°, the beignet will be fat soaked and heavy. If the temperature rises above 375°,   the beignet will cook too fast on the surface and need to be pulled from the fat before the interior is cooked through. It always takes me a few tests to get the oil and my technique just right. A deep fry thermometer is essential for this recipe.

White Chocolate, Cardamom & Coconut Beignet 

The addition of ricotta creates beignets that are ethereally light and delicately flavored. I am of two minds on the addition of toasted coconut here. The flavor is divine but the coconut does steal center stage from the white chocolate. Sometimes I make these with coconut, sometimes without. Either way is wonderful.
20 cardamom pods (or 1½ teaspoons cardamom seeds or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom)
1 cup canned coconut milk (I used Chaokoh brand)
4 ounces E. Guittard 31% white chocolate disks or 3.5-ounce Lindt White Coconut bar, chopped

2 large eggs
¼ cup sugar
2 cups whole milk ricotta
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract

1½ cups King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup medium unsweetened coconut, lightly toasted, optional

vegetable oil, for frying (I used 3 cups for a 6-inch diameter saucepan; the oil was 1½-inches deep)

Garnishes
powdered sugar in a shaker
Caramel Sauce (homemade or store bought)
Cream Cheese & Lemon Crèma (recipe below)

1. Using a mallet, lightly crush the cardamom pods and retrieve the seeds, discarding the papery pods. Using a mortar and pestle, coarsely crush the cardamom seeds.

NOTE   If you are using ground cardamom, skip Steps 1, 2, and 3 and add the ground cardamom at Step 4.

1. In a small saucepan or in a large glass measuring cup in a microwave oven, heat the coconut milk to simmering, remove from the heat or microwave oven, and add the crushed cardamom seeds.
2. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, steep for 30 minutes, and then strain into either a small clean saucepan or large glass measuring cup. Discard the cardamom seeds.
3. Again, heat the milk to simmering using your chosen method, remove from the heat source and stir in the white chocolate until smooth and creamy. (Add the ground cardamom here if you are using it.)  Reserve.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, and then whisk in the ricotta and vanilla until smooth.
5. Add the cooled (slightly warm is fine) coconut milk-white chocolate mixture to the batter and whisk to combine.
6. Put the flour, baking powder, and salt into a sifter or coarse strainer and sift over the egg mixture. Using a flexible silicon or rubber spatula, fold gently to combine.
7. Cover the batter tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or as long as 24 hours. Bring the batter to room temperature before frying.
8. In the meanwhile, put a few layers of paper toweling on top of an edged baking sheet and set this next to the stovetop. Locate a deep-fry thermometer that will grasp the edge of the pan, a small skimmer for removing overbrowned bits of batter, and a 2-tablespoon capacity, release-style ice cream scoop. (If you don’t have the ice cream scoop, 2 tablespoons will work.)
9. In 6-inch diameter, heavy saucepan, attach a deep-fry thermometer to the side of the pan and add 1½- to 2-inches of vegetable oil to the pan. Then heat to 350°. This is the trickiest aspect of this dessert. You need to maintain a frying temperature between 350° and 375°, no lower and no higher.
10. Carefully drop three to four 2-tablespoon size scoops of beignet batter into the hot oil at one time. Do not crowd the pan. Begin GENTLY swirling and flipping the beignet after 15-20 seconds in the hot oil, and keep flipping them periodically until they are nicely browned on all sides and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes. If in doubt, remove one beignet and cut it in half to check the interior.
11. Remove the beignets, one-by-one, from the hot oil with tongs or a skimmer, drain briefly over the hot oil and then tumble onto the paper toweling. Continue until you have used all of the batter.
12. As the beignet hit the paper toweling, dust with powdered sugar in a shaker.
13. Server plain or alongside small bowls of Cream Cheese & Lemon Crèma and Caramel Sauce. Eat warm.

Makes about thirty 1¾-inch diameter beignet.

Cream Cheese & Lemon Crèma 

I use this versatile  crema as an accompaniment for many desserts and brunch dishes, such as fruit tarts, French toast and bread pudding. But is is especially delicious with freshly fried beignets and donuts.

8 ounces best-quality cream cheese, very cold
1 cup heavy cream, very cold
¼ cup powdered sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, to taste

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese until smooth.
2. On slow speed, slowly add the cream and beat until the cream whips and the mixture is the thickness of whipped cream.
3. Quickly beat in the powdered sugar and then incorporate the lemon zest and 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice to taste.
4. Remove to a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Makes about 2 cups.

One of these fine days I will get around to posting my thoughts about and basic formula for The Perfect Muffin. If you have my cookbook, Pacific Northwest Palate: Four Seasons of Great Cooking, the discussion is on page 249. But for now, I just want to get this wonderful new muffin recipe to you.

If you are following @LunaCafe on Twitter, you know that the OtherWorldly Kitchen is overflowing with rhubarb. It’s everywhere! Open frig one and it falls out on you. Open frig two and you get the same. Perhaps I should start freezing some of this bounty, eh?

If you are keen on rhubarb too, you might want to check out our Rhubarb Primer, which includes a list of all the rhubarb recipes I have developed thus far. I love watching this list grow each spring and early summer. So far this year, I posted Apple Cider-Brined Tenderloin of Pork with Rhubarb Deglazing Sauce and Spring Rhubarb & Apple Crisp with Toasted Hazelnut Streusel.

However, I also developed recipes for Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Syrup & Basil Syrup, Rhubarb Margarita with Rhubarb-Infused Silver Tequila, Rhubarb Lemon-Lime Cooler, Rhubarb Strawberry Sorbet with Candied Orange Zest, Rhubarb Ginger Sauce, Rhubarb, Ginger, & Chile Chutney, and Rhubarb & Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake. I’m afraid rhubarb season will be over before I have time to post all of these.

But I couldn’t move on to strawberries and blueberries without at least sharing these fabulous muffins with you. MauiJim says they are the best he has ever eaten. I wish I could have captured an audio clip of his little murmurings as he was eating the first one.

We devoured the entire batch over a few days. And the remarkable thing was that they were as good on day three (with a 20-second refresh in the microwave) as on day one. That just isn’t typical of muffins, as you surely know.

Rhubarb Cardamom Lime Muffins

Muffins don’t get any better than this. The texture is tender and open, with sweet/tart rhubarb goodness throughout. Plus, there is just something magical about the combination of cardamom, lime, and rhubarb.

To balance the tart bursts of rhubarb on the palate, the caramelized streusel topping is a must. Don’t even think about leaving it out.

Rhubarb Mixture
1½ cups ½-inch diced rhubarb (about 7 ounces, 1 medium-size, trimmed rhubarb stalk)
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
finely grated zest of 1 large lime

Streusel Topping
¾ cup King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 32 pieces

Muffin Batter
2 cups King Arthurs unbleached, all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
8 tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly
2/3 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
1/3 cup milk

1. To make the rhubarb mixture, in a mixing bowl, combine the rhubarb, sugar, cardamom, cloves and lime zest. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let macerate for at least 30 minutes. Mixture should appear very juicy when maceration is complete.
2. To make the streusel topping, in a small mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter until mixture is evenly crumbly. (Alternatively, you can beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, and then quickly mix in the remaining ingredients.) Reserve for a moment.
3. To make the muffin batter, in a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and then add sugar. Whisk thoroughly to distribute the chemical leaveners. Reserve for a moment.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg briefly, and then whisk in the melted butter, Greek yogurt, and milk.
5. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir quickly and gently with a large, flexible rubber spatula just to evenly moisten. The batter should still be lumpy.
6. Lightly spray a traditional 12-unit muffin or mini popover pan with vegetable spray.
7. Divide the batter among the cups, letting the batter mound naturally. The cups should be nearly full.
8. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of each muffin and then press it down lightly into the batter (so that it doesn’t fall off during baking). You may have a small amount of streusel topping left over. You can bake it separately and use as in ice cream topping if you wish.
9. Bake immediately at 400° for about 20-25 minutes. Internal temperature of the muffins will register 190º when fully baked.

Makes 12 regular-size muffins.