It's been a while since I've a) blogged b) shared a recipe and I'm about to rectify both these matters. Back in the days when we kept an allotment, I fancied growing oranges in our polytunnel and making marmalade with them. That didn't quite work out. When Mr. Tesco's offered Seville oranges earlier in the year, I decided it was time I finally made my favourite conserve.
I've blogged about jamming all sorts of fruit here but marmalade was a bit different to those previous experiences. It's messier. And takes longer. And its a bit more effort. Nevertheless, the outcome is highly rewarding. Here's how you do it:
Ingredients:
1 kg Seville oranges
2 kg granulated sugar
2 lemons
2.5 litres water
Method:
Halve the oranges and juice them. Set juice aside.
Scoop out all the pulp into a muslin cloth - tie the cloth up once done to form a bag.
Slice the orange peel into thin strips and set aside.
Extract lemon juice.
Add all of these into a large pan and top up with water and simmer for around 2 hours - you know you're ready for the next step when the orange peel starts to look soft and slightly translucent
Remove the muslin bags and extract all the juice from them as this juice is rich in pectin. Now add sugar and continue to heat the mixture until to gets to setting point. This can take 20 mins or up to an hour in my case. In the mean time, set a couple of spoons and small plates in the fridge to cool - you will use this to test the setting point of the jam
The key is to ensure that the mixture gets nice and frothy ( as in the picture above) and to not get impatient with the setting process.
Once set, decant the jam into sterilised jam jars, seal and allow to cool. Your yummy marmalade is now ready for consumption and should keep for a couple of months if stored in a cool dark place ( or the fridge in my case). Happy preserving! Ann x
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