I don’t know about you, but I often find buying satsumas, mandarins or clementines a bit of a lottery – sometimes they are delicious and juicy and the kids just romp through them. At other times they are disappointing, tough and destined to a future languishing in the fruit bowl unloved, ignored and ultimately deteriorating.
But not even a humble wrinkly satsuma deserves to end it’s days unloved and unconsumed in a rubbish bin because even the most disappointing still have plenty of sweet juice inside them. And their nutritional value is just stunning – look at all that vitamin C!
So here are our top three ideas on what to do with these little orangey favourites – they are all ridiculously easy, and incredibly delicious.
Unloved Satsumas & Citrus Fruits
LET LOOSE THE SATSUMA JUICE
The first thing to do is to take your pile of satsumas and/or other citrus fruits, which could include satsumas, tangerines, ordinary oranges, blood oranges and even grapefruit if you are partial!
Now give them a jolly good squeeze – preferably with a suitable juice extracting device. (You can’t beat a simple retro glass one in my view, especially to build up those biceps!). For more juicing advice, we refer to Mr Jamie Oliver.
You can stop right there if you like – I sometimes pop the juice in the fridge to chill, and then just drink it! Chilled satsuma and clementine juice is a truly lovely thing if you want to keep it simple, and you’d be surprised how much beautiful healthy juice you get out of a small pile.
TOP TIP: A DASH OF SCIENCE
Apparently if you microwave your fruit before juicing, or even freeze your fruit before juicing, you will get just that little bit more juice out of it. Something sciencey to do with breaking down cell structures and releasing juice! It seems to make sense in any case.
We also like to mix our satsuma juice with fizzy water – this is a fantastic treat for the children as it tastes just like Orangina without the bad stuff. Happy days.
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- Squeezing the Satsuma Juice
GIVE YOUR SATSUMAS THE BIG FREEZE
Of course, at this time of year making the juice into ice lollies is a no brainer! Of all of the fresh fruit ice pop options available to you, this is up there with the simplest and most delicious. No sugar required – you just pop the fresh juice in to your ice lolly molds, and you’ll have deliciously healthy icey treats by teatime.
LET’S GET WOBBLY
And finally, our favourite trick – satsuma jelly – not an obvious one is it? But again, it is sugar free, naturally delicious, and naturally healthy – clearly a much better vehicle for your tin of mandarins at a party than the traditional blocks of sugar we are used to buying. We promise you it’s easy peasy and amazingly delish!
Here’s how you do it – it’s frighteningly simple!
WHAT YOU NEED
- Excess satsumas or other citrus fruit – one pile thereof
- 1 x 12g sachet of Dr Oetker’s Powdered Gelatine
WHAT YOU DO
- Juice all of the fruit you have available.
- Put it in a measuring jug to work out how much you have by volume.
- Prepare the gelatine as per instructions on the packet – one sachet does 1 pint of liquid, so if you have half a pint of liquid, use half the packet and so on. You just dissolve the gelatine powder in warm water.
- Mix the gelatine and the juice.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl or individual bowls with whatever accompanying fruit you like!
- Wait for it to set! Approx 12 hours usually to be sure.
Satsuma Juice Ready for Dr Oetker’s Magic
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- Satsuma Jelly Ready for Chilling
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- Add a Little Segment of Something to Your Satsuma Jelly
Note: You can in fact use this method with bought fruit juice as well, including apple juice, pineapple juice, or anything you like really. It always tastes a great deal more fruity than conventional jelly, and is of course, far more healthy!
We have to confess though, we’ve not finished with the humble satsuma just yet – we have ambitions of a sorbet, a posset and even a gin, so watch out for our satsuma updates as we get our experimental heads on! And come Christmas time, we’ll be slicing and drying, ready to decorate our home made gifts! Who knew a wrinkly satsuma could be so versatile!
Have you got your own ideas on what you would do with your satsuma stash – we’d love to here them! Get in touch!
Download a copy of this recipe here – WASTE NOT WANT NOT SATSUMA JELLY RECIPE
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