Bottled Mandarins Recipe

I had an absolute bumper crop of mandarins on my tree this year, more than I have ever had before. I have previously just enjoyed eating them fresh but after having done a lot of that (and shared many boxes of fruit with family, friends and neighbours), I realised that I would need to look at different ways of preserving them to enjoy later. The first method I explored was bottling them in a light syrup.

~2kg mandarins
1 cup Sugar
2 cups Water
You can bottle them in a plain syrup or add spices of your choice. If you make a nice blend you can save leftover syrup to use in cocktails and other drinks. I used:
2 tbsp Juniper Berries
2 sticks Cinnamon
1 tsp Cardamom pods

Combine sugar, water and spices in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Bring syrup to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool a bit and for the spices to infuse.

I decided to use the Water Bath Method as it is an excellent way to preserve fruit and tomatoes (according to the Edmonds Cookbook – a classic in NZ). For this you need a large pot with a lid and preferably a rack to go in the bottom. If you don’t have a rack you can improvise by wiring together some preserving rings to keep the jars off the bottom. Fill it about half way with hot water (if you forget and use cold water it is okay but it will take a looong time to heat).

Use preserving jars that have been washed in the dishwasher to sterilise them. I used 7x 360ml (12 ounce) preserving jars for my 2kg of fruit although I will try to pack them tighter into fewer jars next time as they ‘shrank’ during processing.

Peel your mandarins, removing as much of the white pith as you can, divide them into segments. Mine mandarins don’t have any seeds so I didn’t need to decide whether to try to remove them or leave them in – that is your choice.

Pack the mandarin segments tightly into the preserving jars and fill to the top with the syrup leaving about 25mm to spare. I chose to leave the spices in for a stronger flavour but you can strain them out at this stage if you prefer a subtler flavour. Put the lids on tight but not too tight.

Place the jars in the rack (or so they are not touching) in the pot. The water should cover the jars to be most effective. Put the lid on and bring to a slow rolling boil. Boil gently for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and take the jars out using preserving tongs. Label and date once the jars have cooled and dried.

Use the bottled mandarins in desserts, salads or stir-fries.