Sauces, conserves & preserves
Seville orange marmalade
January is the time to make this; slicing carefully, simmering slowly and boiling fiercely, while the whole house fills with the distinctive bittersweet aroma. We've won awards for our marmalade which is made to this recipe. Makes about 4kg.
Cook's notes
Handy Tips: To sterilise jars, place in a dishwasher cycle, boil in water or heat in the oven - put the jars on a baking tray and place in a cold oven. Heat to 140°C for at least 10 mins (jars can be left warm in the oven until needed). Make sure you have a large enough pan to hold all the liquid and peel with plenty of extra space. When peeling the skins, keep the pieces as large as possible to make chopping easier. Don't over-boil the marmalade once set or the marmalade will be too solid. If you are not confident peeling the skin from the whole fruit with a knife, cut the fruit into quarters, squeeze out the juice (reserve the juice for the pan and add any pips that come out into the muslin bag). Scrape the inner flesh, pips, and white pith away from the skin with a knife or teaspoon and put in the muslin bag. Chop the peel for the pan as above.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg Seville oranges
- 2 lemons
- 2.5 litres cold water
- about 2kg granulated sugar
Method
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Step 1
With a sharp knife, peel the skin from the oranges and lemons, leaving as much white pith on the fruit as possible. Chop the peel into 3mm strips and put in a large pan.
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Step 2
Line a large bowl with a piece of muslin, leaving plenty to overhang the sides of the bowl. Cut the oranges and lemons in half. With your hands, squeeze the juice from the fruit over the bowl, dropping the leftover squeezed fruit (pith, pips and flesh) into the muslin.
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Step 3
Lift the muslin out of the bowl, gather the sides and squeeze any remaining juice into the bowl. Tie the muslin together with string to keep the fruit in and form a bag.
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Step 4
Place the muslin bag in the saucepan with the peel. Add the squeezed fruit juice and 2.5 litres cold water to the pan.
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Step 5
Heat until boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours, until the peel is tender. Put a few saucers in the fridge to chill.
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Step 6
Remove the muslin bag and squeeze all the sticky juice from the bag into the pan. (An easy way to do this is to put the bag in a colander and use a spoon to press it out).
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Step 7
Measure the contents of the pan in a jug (include the shreds and liquid). Return to the pan and add 450g sugar for every 500ml liquid.
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Step 8
Gently heat for 15 minutes, until the sugar crystals have dissolved. Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 15 minutes.
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Step 9
Test that the marmalade has reached setting point by putting a teaspoon of the liquid on a cold saucer and gently pushing with the back of the spoon. If the liquid starts to wrinkle, setting point has been reached. If no wrinkling happens, keep boiling and re-test every 10 minutes. Turn off the heat as soon as you reach setting point.
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Step 10
Skim any scum from the surface. Leave the mixture to stand for 15 minutes. Stir gently, then carefully spoon into warmed sterilised jars (use a jam funnnel if you have one). If using screw top lids, put the lids on while the marmalade is still hot and turn upside down for 5 minutes to sterilise the lids (or boil the lids for a few minutes and leave to dry before use). If using cellophane, put a wax disc on the marmalade while warm, then seal with cellophane and an elastic band.