
Have you ever thought that your morning Greek yogurt and toast was missing something? We’ve got just the cure for you — marmalade! We’re bringing you all the basics of marmalade-making, plus three delicious and zesty recipes. *And* we’re pairing this guide with one of our favorite things — free printables! Top off these homemade spreads with our downloadable labels to really seal the deal (canning pun totally intended). Each recipe has an optional boozy twist — a little bit of liqueur to balance out the sweetness. Scroll on for three of our favorite marmalade combos: Meyer Lemon and Limoncello, Blood Orange and Grand Marnier, and Cara Cara Orange and Campari.
What’s the difference between marmalade and jam, you ask? Marmalade uses the peel of the fruit as well as the pulp, so citrus is always involved. Are you ready for this jelly?
Whip up one of these fresh marmalades and your toast will go from flat to fabulous. Now, onto the marmalade-ing!
Tools:
– measuring cup
– cheesecloth
– kitchen twine
– knife
– cutting board
– ladle
– peeler
– large saucepan
– canning tools (you can find a comprehensive list of tools in our Canning 101 tutorial)
Citrus Marmalade Instructions (See More Recipes Below!)
1. Remove the zest from your citrus by peeling in a circle from the top. You’ll want to have large, ribbonlike pieces.
2. Lay out all the peels on the cutting board and slice into even smaller strips. Set the sliced peels aside. These peels are what makes this marmalade instead of jam.
3. Peel the rest of the thick white skin (AKA the albedo) of the citrus off and discard.
4. Separate the slices of the fruit and dice into small, triangular pieces.
5. While you’re dicing the citrus, remove and reserve the seeds. Citrus seeds have pectin, a preserving ingredient, in them.
6. Cut a piece of cheesecloth and fold it in half. Place the seeds in the center and roll the sides of the cheesecloth into a small sack. Tie off and seal with the kitchen twine.
7. Pour the peel slices and the pulp into a large saucepan. Pour the water into the pot and drop the seed sack into the pot as well.
8. Boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
9. Check on the saucepan after 30 minutes. The citrus peels should be translucent by now. If not, continue to boil them until they are.
10. Stir in the sugar and pectin with the diced citrus and peels.
11. After about 20 minutes, test the marmalade to see if it has reached the gel set. When marmalade is hot, it’s still a bit runny. The most surefire way to see if it has reached the gel set is to place a small spoonful on some wax paper and put it in the freezer. After a few minutes, take it out and poke the marmalade. If there’s a skin, you’ve reached gel set! If not, add a little more pectin and continue to boil and test periodically.
12. Once gel set has been reached, add alcohol and boil for another 2 minutes.
13. Ladle the finished marmalade into the canning jars.
Meyer Lemon + Limoncello
Ingredients:
– 12 Meyer lemons
– 2 tbsp Limoncello
– 4 cups sugar
– 3 cups water
– 4 tbsp Ball Real Fruit Classic Pectin (or any pectin will do)
– 3 whole clove seeds
Start by gathering your ingredients.
Remove the zest from the lemons by peeling vertically from the top. You’ll want to have large pieces to work with. Chop the zest into even smaller slices. Peel the rest of the thick white skin (AKA the albedo) of the citrus off and discard. Dice the citrus pulp into small triangular pieces and place in a bowl with the citrus peel slices. While you’re dicing the citrus pulp, set aside the seeds. Next, cut a piece of cheesecloth and fold it in half. Place the lemon and clove seeds in the center and roll the sides of the cheesecloth into a small sack. Tie off and seal with the kitchen twine. Dump the lemon peel slices, lemon pulp and seed sack into a large saucepan.
Pour the water into the pan. Boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Check on the saucepan with the citrus peels and pulp after 30 minutes. See if the citrus peels are translucent, or keep boiling until they are. Stir in the sugar and the pectin. After about 20 minutes, test the marmalade to see if it has reached the gel set. When marmalade is hot, its still a bit runny. A surefire way to see if it has reached gel set is to place a small spoonful on some wax paper or a small dish and put it in the freezer. After a few minutes, take it out and poke the marmalade. If there’s a skin, you’ve reached gel set! If not, add a little more pectin and continue to boil and test periodically.
Once gel set has been reached, add the Limoncello and boil for another two minutes. Remove from heat and ladle the marmalade into sterilized jars with the aid of a funnel. Leave at least ¼ inch of space at the top. Seal the jars tightly and place them into a hot water bath to seal. Boil in the hot water bath for about 10 minutes, then remove the jars from the bath. (Pssst: Want more info about proper canning techniques? Check out our Canning 101 tutorial.)
Blood Orange + Grand Marnier
Ingredients:
– 9 blood oranges (about 3 lbs)
– 2 tbsp Grand Marnier
– 2 meyer lemons
– 4 cups sugar
– 3 cups water
– 4 tbsp Ball RealFruit Classic Pectin (or any pectin will do)
Even the ingredients make our mouths water.
Remove the zest from the citrus by peeling in a circle from the top. You’ll want to have large, ribbonlike pieces. Chop the zest into even smaller slices. Peel the rest of the thick white skin (remember, this is called the albedo) of the citrus off and discard. Dice the citrus pulp into small triangular pieces and place in a bowl with the citrus peel slices. While you’re dicing the citrus pulp, set aside the seeds.
Cut a piece of cheesecloth and fold it in half. Place the seeds in the center and roll the sides of the cheesecloth into a small sack. Tie off and seal with the kitchen twine. Pour the citrus peel slices and the pulp into a large saucepan. Pour the water into the pot and drop the seed sack into the pot as well. Boil on medium heat and stir occasionally.
Check on the saucepan after 30 minutes. Check the citrus peels to see if they are translucent, or keep boiling until they are. Once the peels are translucent, stir in the sugar and the pectin with the diced citrus and peels. After 20 minutes, test the marmalade to see if it has reached gel set. Once gel set has been reached, add the Grand Marnier and boil for another two minutes. Check out how to properly can your marmalade in our Canning 101 tutorial.
Cara Cara Orange + Campari
Ingredients:
– 4 cara cara oranges (about 1 ½ lbs)
– 1 grapefruit
– 3 meyer lemons
– 2 tbsp Campari
– 4 cups sugar
– 3 cups water
– 4 tbsp Ball RealFruit Classic Pectin (or any pectin will do)
Cara Cara + Campari also sounds like a cocktail we need to make ;)
Remove the zest from the cara cara oranges, lemons and grapefruit. You’ll want to have large, ribbonlike pieces. Chop the zest into even smaller slices. Peel the rest of the thick white skin of the citrus fruits off and discard. Dice the citrus pulp into small triangular pieces and place in a bowl with the citrus peel slices. While you’re dicing the citrus pulp, set aside the seeds. Place the seeds in a makeshift cheesecloth sack, tying the sack off with kitchen twine. Pour the diced pulp, sliced peels and seed sack into the saucepan.
Pour the water into the pot and boil on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check the peels to see if they’re translucent and add the sugar and pectin. After about 20 minutes, check for gel set. Once gel set is reached, add the Campari and boil for another two minutes. Ladle the finished marmalade into the jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Screw the lids of the jars on tightly and finish the canning process by boiling the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. (Pssst: Want more info about proper canning techniques? Check out our Canning 101 tutorial.)
Top ‘Em Off With Some Printables!
Want to spread the love and give your marmalade away as gifts, or add a fun label to your jars? We’ve created free printable labels for each recipe. Your marmalade can be stored for up to two years, so be sure to write the canning date on each label.
Print the free printable labels out on a full sheet of sticker paper. Cut the label out using an X-Acto knife on a cutting mat and stick the sides of the label onto the smooth sides of the jar.
Voila! Your family, friends and neighbors will now call you Lady Marmalade! It’s perfect for adding some zest to morning toast or sweetening Greek yogurt. You can also spread some marmalade on shortbread cookies for a delicious tea-time treat.
Will you try out these recipes? If so, we’d love to see the results! Post photos of your marmalade creations with the hashtags #britstagram and #iamcreative so we can take a peek
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures