February is traditionally marmalade making month. I´m a little behind this year, and hope this recipe doesn´t reach those of you, who want to give it a try, too late.
First of all though, I´d like to say a big thank you to two fellow bloggers who very kindly nominated me for awards. Waterfalls and Caribous chronicles the adventures of a young couple travelling the world. They´re currently in South Korea, and if, like me, you have never been to a Love Motel (it´s not rude, I promise!), click here. Thanks guys for the Versatile Blogger Award, and here´s my previous post on that if you want to check it out.
The lovely Alli over at Pease Pudding very kindly awarded me the Liebster Blog Award. If you haven´t visited this great blog yet, do pop over, it´s written by a lass from Northern England now living in beautiful New Zealand. Thanks Alli, and if you missed it, here´s where I share the love.
Last year I posted a more traditional way of making it, this year I´m using a slightly quicker method (no hand chopping and a quicker set), although marmalade making from scratch is a fairly lengthy, but rewarding process.
For the other method, click here.
Ingredients
- For every kilo (or just over) of oranges, two kilos of sugar and 1.25 litres of water and one lemon
- The biggest, heavy based, saucepan you have
- A wooden spoon
- A couple of large jugs or bowls and a fine sieve
- About 6 regular sized jams jars and lids per kilo of oranges
Start by washing and drying the oranges, and lemons and putting them in the biggest saucepan you have and covering them with water. You will now bring to the boil and cook gently until softened. Unless they are tightly packed they will probably float, so just turn them around in the water every so often. This will take about an hour and they are ready when you can easily pierce them with a skewer.
Remove the oranges from the liquid (don´t discard it) and when they are cool enough to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh, pips and pith and place into the reserved liquid. You will also probably need to cuts the skins into quarters and with a knife or spoon, scrape off as much of the white pith which still clings to it. This is important as it will give you that precious pectin which will make your jam set. Put the two halves of each lemon in with the pulp.
Now bring the liquid with all the pulp and pith to a boil and using a potato masher, press down on the pulp as it boils. Leave it boiling gently for about 10 minutes and press the pulp a couple of times during this period.
As this is boiling you can process the skin – either by hand into fine shreds, or in a food processor into tiny chunks.
Now strain the liquid from the pulp and keep pressing as you pass it through the sieve to get any last drops of pectin out.
Put the liquid back into the pot, add the sugar and the chopped orange skin and cook gently until the sugar has dissolved. Now bring up to a quicker boil until it reaches setting point. You´ll find this happens quite quickly with this method, and if you like a thicker set marmalade, cook for a few minutes longer. Personally I like a softer texture – the choice is yours.
Once it is ready, leave to cool slightly for about 10-15 minutes and to allow the shreds to settle, then pour into sterilised jars, seal and wait for them to cool before labeling (if you do this). Now enjoy the wonderful smells of oranges which will still fill your house and cut yourself a lovely slice of bread to enjoy the fruits of your labours.
Spree has also made the most of the lovely oranges around at this time of year. Check out her beautiful rhubarb and orange jam.
Chica Andaluza 