Mad for Marmalade: Best in Show

There's always a marmalade competition at the Culinary Historians' annual Mad for Marmalade event, sort of a nod to the great marmalade festival in Cumbria, which attracts entries from all over the world. This is the third year I've entered, and I had the great thrill of winning both a first-prize ribbon and the Best in Show prize for my Seville Orange Marmalade (the recipe for which is posted on this blog).

Before you get too impressed, I should point out that the field was somewhat smaller this year than in the past. However, I must say that some of the people who compete really know their marmalade, and the judges are a formidable crew, so I was very proud of the result nonetheless.

I also won a first-place ribbon in the marmalade baking category. I will take no special credit for this, since all I did was follow the excellent recipe for Orange and Vanilla Marmalade Mini Cakes developed by Alejandra Ramos and posted on the blog Always Order Dessert.These muffin-sized cakes contain a full jar of marmalade, along with vanilla and almond extract, and they have a marvellously aromatic flavour.

Here I am with my amazing prizes: two Bernardin preserving kits (which I have already passed along to other preservers), two jars of money(!), a supply of citrus fruit and, most exciting of all, a proper Maslin pan from Lee Valley. I have been ogling those in the online catalogue for at least five years, and I am no end excited about this. More on that topic later!

Thanks to Mark D'Aguilar for the photos!