Clementine Marmalade & Biscuits à la Roost

It is time for our second guest on Green Kitchen Stories. This time we asked Coco from Roost – one of the most beautiful blogs we know – if she would like to share a recipe. She came up with this delicious combo that she will tell you more about herself. If you haven’t visited Roost before we strongly encourage you to do so. It is such a serene place with the touch and feeling of another century. Her recipes are always refreshingly pure, easy and wholesome, and the light in her photos is incredible. Enough said from us, here is Coco:

I have always found it rather strange that citrus fruits rise to their peak amidst the bleak, winter season. While these sweet, golden orbs are maturing the rest of us are hibernating, longing for warmer days. And just when the lull of winter has set in I find refuge in the fruit aisle at my local market. Clad in rain gear from head to foot I walk out into the Seattle squall with a bounce in my step and a bag of clementines in my hand.

My husband and I can consume an entire bag of clementines in just a few days, but I thought I would broaden my repertoire and pursue a more sophisticated snack, one perhaps Fanny Brawne would have while reading Keats’ latest verses :)

Traditionally marmalade are an equal weight of fruit and sugar boiled together, which often lends a nice congealed texture. Rather than dousing my clementines in sugar I chose to enhance their flavor with vanilla bean and just a touch of honey. The result, surprisingly, resembled a true marmalade and tasted like one too!

To accompany this fine spread I thought a simple biscuit would be fitting. Although nothing can ever replace a true flaky, butter biscuit I have found almond flour biscuits to be a delicious and healthy alternative for those who are grain/gluten sensitive.

Clementines and citrus alike are a beautiful reminder of the sweet days to come. So come out of your winter dens, take a break from your root vegetables and enjoy the fruits of the season.

Clementine Vanilla Bean Marmalade
Yields about 2 cups

7 clementines
1/2 cup fresh clementine juice (I ran three clementines through my juicer and it yielded exactly 1/2 cup of juice)
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1/4 cup honey

In order to remove the bitter taste from the peel you first needs to blanch the clementines. Slice the clementines as thin as you can and place them in a pot with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain. Pour more cold water into the pot, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and let clementines cool in the pot.

Chop clementines into small pieces and return to pot. Add juice and honey. Bring to a boil and boil for about 20 minutes or until the temperature gets to about 220F. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla seeds. Allow to cool before adding to clean jars for storage.

Rosemary Almond Meal Biscuits
4 larger or 6 smaller biscuits

2 1/2 cups almond flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting the dough
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup grape seed oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp  honey
1/2 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary

Combine almond flour (2 1/2 cups), salt, rosemary and baking soda in a bowl. Mix together the oil, eggs and honey in a separate bowl. Mix your wet ingredients into your dry until a nice dough forms.

Roll your dough between two sheets of parchment paper, sprinkling extra flour to avoid sticking. For larger biscuits roll dough to about 1 inch thick and cut biscuits using a biscuit cutter or the mouth of a mason jar. For smaller biscuits roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick.

Place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake on 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the outside.

Remove from oven, slather with marmalade and enjoy!

Text and photos by Roost

45 Comments

  • Khinna
    I can't wait to try this recipe. And, I keep seeing those beautiful clasp jars. Can anyone let me know where I can buy them?
    • Hi Khinna, those jars are made my Weck and you can find them at Terrain: http://shopterrain.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ST&Product_Code=SEAS-TPAN-40-001001&mySearch=jar&mySearchTtlPrds=38&mySearchCrrntPg=1&mySearchTtlPgs=7
  • I love all her creations and how beautifully she photographs them :) http://www.cassieandanthony.blogspot.com
  • Jenn C
    I halved the recipe and served it at tea yesterday, and my friends loved it! I directed them both to the recipe, and sent some leftovers home with one of them!
  • What a heavenly combo of flavors. I like how the jam doesn't make a ton, either. It's just enough to have plenty on hand for a few weeks, and some to share with a good friend. Can't wait to try it.
  • SO fabulous all around! I love that the biscuits are made with all almond flour and the use of the lovely herbs and marmalade are perfect!
  • I adore rosemary and citrus together - can't wait to try these two recipes! Happy to see Coco and Roost featured, and happy that she has introduced me to Green Kitchen Stories (my first visit here!).
  • Holy Cow, these look great. I'm on my way home to try them now.
  • That biscuit looks perfect. Roost is easily one of my favorite sites!
  • So beautiful...I love the vanilla bean idea.
  • John Schooler
    I made a huge batch of clementine marmalade using my regular recipe for citrus. It is so good and easy as there are no seeds and little pith. I like the idea of vanilla though, so I'll try that next time. I'm totally Southern though, so biscuits have to be made with Crisco, white flour and buttermilk! lol!
    • John, Im from Alabama so I too am a sucker for classic buttermilk biscuits :) But these almond flour biscuits I can eat without feeling guilty!
  • I can't wait to try this! I have some clementines sitting on my counter right now. It will be a perfect accompaniment with my daily ritual of whole grain toast.
  • Kat
    What temperature do you bake the biscuits at? I might be missing it, but I keep re-reading the recipe and can't see an oven setting!
    • Thanks for pointing this out Kat!! 350F :)
  • Jenn C
    Hi! This recipe looks delicious, and I think I'm going to make a batch of marmalade for a tea party this week. Quick question though - doesn't boiling the sliced clementines lose a lot of their clementine-y goodness? It seems like it would boil away a lot of the flavor. Does the end product taste generally sweet and vanilla-y, or do you still get distinct citrus flavor? Thanks!
    • Jenn, great question! The blanching process removed the bitterness from the peel. I don't know if you have ever candied orange peels but it is a similar effect....if you leave this step out you will be left with a not so good result. The end result is very "citrusy" and the vanilla bean is subtle but tasty.
    • Jenn C
      Thanks! Just to be sure I'm not misinterpreting, I'm going to ask one more question...you slice and blanch the entire clementine, right? Not just the peel? Just checking before I make this later this week. Thanks!
    • Yes Jenn, you slice the whole clementine :) I leave out the end pieces.
  • Thank you Rebecca! I have never baked something with 100% spelt flour but my guess is that it will lend a rather dense biscuit, but you are welcome to give it a try :) As for the grapeseed oil, I would recommend ghee (clarified butter) as the best alternative. If that is hard to find you can use any neutral vegetable oil. Best of luck!
  • Shannon
    I'm from the south and all about biscuits---and your recipe--just based on the gorgeous photos--gets my approval!
  • Mmmm looks absolutely delectable! And great to see two of my favorite blogs getting together (Green Roost Stories? ;) Lovely photos and gorgeous ingredients. Hopefully the Paris farmers market will have all of these things tomorrow and I will attempt this beautiful creation. Do you think the biscuits would work with spelt flour? Merci beaucoup!
    • Also, grapeseed oil is hard to find here - would any neutral vegetable oil work in its place?
  • Cornel
    WOW! What beautiful photographs, love the simplicity and vintagy tones. Definitely going to check Roost out. Thank you Green Kitchen Stories for picking out some great guest posters ;-}
  • Sini
    Beautiful and surely delicious. Can't wait to try your version which sounds truly interesting (and so healthy!)! I love clementine marmelade ever since I bought a little jar of it from an old italian lady on a market in northern Italy. I still dream about that marmelade *sigh*
  • Beautiful! Love Coco and Roost. Her posts are always an inspiration :)
  • Gorgeous! I can't wait to try this!
  • Beautiful photos as always. This marmalade and biscuit combination sounds lovely for a gray, chilly day in the NW. Thank you Coco!
  • Thank you everyone for the kind words! And thank you David and Luise for such a thoughtful introduction!! Heather- The biscuits are not as light and fluffy as a traditional biscuit made with white flour but; however they are not too dense either. If you want a "lighter" biscuit I recommend keeping them small both in height and width such as 3 inches wide and 1/4-1/2 inch in height. You will not get much a rise but you will have delicious results! Another trick is to use eggs that are ROOM TEMPERATURE!
    • Thank you for the reply and recommendations, Coco. I will definitely put both of these recipes to use. Sooner than later, I hope! Cheers!
  • I recently made a marmalade and also a jam with vanilla bean, though a combination of the two ideas sounds even better! I've never baked with almond meal. For some reason I'd think the biscuits would be quite dense using the meal instead of flour, but obviously that's not the case. Will have to seek some out, or make my own! Which do you suggest? Cheers, *Heather*
  • I love, love Caitlin and Roost to begin with, but this is just beyond beautiful. Both of you are always such an inspiration! Thanks for the amazing guest posts, David and Louise.
  • Wonderful recipe! I love the idea of guest posts, they help to spread the news of excellent blogs, such as this one!
  • Just lovely - reposted on FB :)
  • These guest posts keep getting better and better! The clementine marmalade is a wonderfully unique way to use the fruit (which I could eat multiple times a day).
  • Caroline
    Such a delicious sounding healthy version of a marmalade. And that picture of the clementine slices is so beautiful!

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