I haven’t made marmalade for a couple of years now. When I make it I give plenty away but also keep some – and apparently more than we need (according to Old Bull). It’s so therapeutic to make and friends seem to enjoy it, so I enjoy making it. But it takes time.
A lovely lady called Celeste, whom I follow on Instagram, saw my picture of the oranges below. She lives in the States. She asked if I had a recipe so I said I would write it out for her. And here it is.
The recipe, such as it is, is 1kg of Seville oranges, 1 lemon, 2kg of preserving sugar, 2l of water and a sachet of pectin. Now I know that you’re not supposed to need pectin but I’ve made marmalade without it and it doesn’t set properly. Maybe I’m not doing something I should be but anyway…
You’re supposed to scrub your oranges but somehow I always forget. I’m going to make another batch this weekend so I’ll try to remember and see if it makes any difference.
I top and tail the oranges, score four slits down the side and then ease off the skin. The skin and pith are thick and the oranges inside really measly. I put the oranges in a muslin ready for squeezing.
Next comes the start of the slow stuff. You need to scrape out all the pith from the oranges. I use a teaspoon. I choose one with as rounded an end as possible; all that scraping is hard on the hands. Put the discarded pith in with the oranges in the muslin.
Once all the scraping is done, the chopping can begin. I don’t like chunky marmalade and Old Bull doesn’t eat the stuff at all. Friends get what they are given… This is the satisfying bit – watching the pile of slim slices grow and grow.
I squeeze out the juice from the oranges while they are in the muslin and add a lemon cut in half. This is attached to the side of the preserving pan and the peel and 2l of water added. The pan is brought to the boil and then turned down to a simmer for about 2 hours – until the peel is soft. The liquid obviously reduces a lot in this time.
Once the 2 hours are up, taking the muslin from the side of the pan, I open it up to let the fruit cool. Then, with rubber gloves on, I squeeze and squeeze and twist and squeeze that muslin to get the slimy pectin juices out. I do this over a plastic bowl and then add the resulting liquid to the pan. The gloves help me scape as much as I possibly can from the tight ball.
I have learned from experience that if you add the pectin to the pan it doesn’t dissolve and just forms glutinous lumps. I now mix the pectin with the sugar and then tip that into the pan. The heat is off at this stage and I dissolve the sugar over a low heat. You don’t want to heat it too quickly or you’ll get grainy marmalade.
Once the crystals of sugar are all gone, I raise the heat of the pan to a rolling boil. You’re supposed to take 6-10 mins at 103C to reach setting point. In my experience it takes a LOT longer than this. I have a couple of side-plates in the freezer and drop a teaspoon of the marmalade onto the plate, then push with the tip of a finger. When it wrinkles enough then I’m ok. I have over-boiled it in the past and then it goes horribly dark and too hard.
I think this is the hardest part – working out what is wrinkly enough. You will see the liquid getting darker as you boil it more. And some people prefer a more runny homemade marmalade. I like to see some set there.
I generally have to do the plate thing about 4 times on average, each time boiling for another 3-4 mins before testing. There’s generally loads of scum but I don’t skim it off until the end.
Once I’m happy that I’ll probably get a set, I turn off the heat. All the muck has to be skimmed/spooned off. I do the knob of butter thing for the last bits I can’t remove with a spoon. I add 5tbsp of scotch whisky and then leave for 10 mins.
The marmalade is messily ladled into sterilised jars. I know I should put greaseproof circles on the top. I don’t. The lids are put on while warm and then you can wait for the satisfying pop when they cool.
Do it again? I’m sure there are plenty of things here that are not “as they should be” according to the rules . There’s probably a reason I have so much scum or boiling so much isn’t right but this seems to work for me. People keep coming back for more so I must be doing something right.
Do it again? 