Prick the kumquats in a few places with a toothpick.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and then add the whole kumquats and simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain and allow to cool a little (in order to handle them)

Pierce the top of each kumquat with a sharp paring knife and squeeze out the pip. I found the smaller ones had one pip, whereas the bigger ones had a few, so I suggest cutting them in half and removing the pips whilst trying to retain as much of the fruity flesh as possible

At this point decide if you want a fine-cut marmalade or a chunky one. If you want it fine (I think this is preferable), finely slice each kumquat (pips removed), otherwise leave it chunky.

Dissolve the sugar and water in a pot and bring this to the boil.

Add the chopped-up fruit with the star anise and the cinnamon and boil vigorously for a few minutes, and then turn it down to a slow boil (lid off) and simmer for 45 minutes (you can pretty much just leave it)

By this time the sauce would have become thick and slightly caramelised

At the same time boil the storage jars in a large pot of water. Then remove and drain

Scoop the hot jam/ marmalade into the jars and seal.

Pop the sealed jars back into the boiling water for 10 minutes (this gets rid of any bacteria and sterilisers the jar). If you are not wanting to store the marmalade for a long period, you can skip this step and simply store it in the fridge.

Remove from the pot, drain and allow to cool