Simple, easy and only a little bit sticky, homemade organic Seville orange marmalade is well worth the effort – giving you more than enough marmalade for the year ahead.
Probably the favourite fruit of many a marmalade lover, and in particular Paddington Bear, Seville oranges don’t come around often, found only in the early months of the year. Sharp and bitter, they aren’t ideal to eat alone but prized for their high pectin content and with a little added sugar, lemon juice and heat, they make absolutely delicious marmalade.
Last year, we were lucky enough to be given a few homemade jars of the stuff by my mother-in-law. It didn’t last long. We even used it for our smoked boxing day ham.
This year, we were determined to make our own so, after a little begging for the recipe, we got stuck in.
what you’ll need
Equipment: large saucepan, sieve, 2 saucers, sterilised jars.
INGREDIENTS
organic Seville orange marmalade: makes 5-6 Bonne Maman jars
- 680g organic Seville oranges
- juice of 1 lemon
- 900g organic granulated sugar
- 1.125 litres water (filtered if possible)
METHOD
- Throw the oranges into a large pan, pour over the water, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 ½ hours.
- Remove from the heat and leaving covered, allow to cool completely – ideally overnight.
- Carefully take out your oranges, reserve the remaining liquid. Put 2 saucers in the fridge to chill.¹
- Halve the oranges and scoop out their contents – place the pith and pips back in the pan with the reserved liquid. Leave the peel to one side.
- Boil gently for 6 mins then strain through a sieve back into the pan. You want to remove the pips but push as much of the pith through as possible – this is will help set the marmalade.
- Discard the pips and return the sieved mixture and the liquid to the pan.
- Add the sugar and slowly heat until it dissolves – around 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile thinly slice the peel and add to the pan. Boil rapidly (rolling boil) for 15 minutes.
- Check if set after 15 minutes. Place a tablespoon of marmalade on a chilled saucer¹. Return to the fridge for a minute or two until cool. The marmalade is set if it wrinkles on dragging a finger through the cold marmalade. Whilst testing, take the pan off the heat.
- Leave the marmalade to stand for 20 minutes to cool a little and allow the peel to settle, then
carefully pour into sterilised jars.
1
Leave a Reply