Christmassy foodie things #2 - Preserved Clementines in a spiced ginger syrup

I made this recipe from the Atomic Shrimp website as a last minute foodie type gift for friends and family. They look great and are relatively inexpensive to make as a gift for any time of the year. The small Kilner jars I used were £2 a go from Wilkinsons and are a nice touch I think. I doubled the amounts in the original recipe as clementines were on offer 2 bags for £2 when I bought them. I added a couple of thickly sliced lemons to make up the weight and used Stones Green Ginger Wine in place of the suggested spirits.

1200g fruit - 2 bags of clementine + 2 lemons

1kg Sugar - white granulated

200ml Stones Ginger Wine
900ml Water

5 Cloves

1 stick cinnamon broken into pieces

Heat the water, 100ml of the ginger wine and the spices gently with the sugar until the sugar dissolves.

Meanwhile wash and destalk the fruit.

Thickly slice the lemons discarding the ends that are all rind.

Put 2 cuts in the non-stalk end of the clementines in a cross - Atomic Shrimp says this is to let the juice out and the syrup in.

Once the sugar is dissolved carefully add the fruit and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, turning the fruit every 10 mins or so.

10 minutes before the end of the cooking time sterilise your jars.

Remove lid from pan and gently 'squish' the fruit a little against the side or base to release some extra juice. You can see from the picture that the cuts on the fruit will open up as the skins are much softer now.

With a spoon place in jars - the fruit is very soft now and will squash easily so take care.

Add last 100ml Ginger wine to the syrup in the pan and stir. Spoon over to cover fruit in jars and seal.

Adorn with a lovely bow and tag if wanted or keep for yourself and guzzle on top of yoghurt or good quality vanilla ice-cream. Mmmm...