Classic Seville orange marmalade

Name: Classic Seville orange marmalade
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 2 lbs Seville oranges; 1 lemon; 4 pints water; 4 lbs granulated sugar

shropshirelass @lesleymakescakes

I did some research before making this as I wanted a classic, bitter orange marmalade and as Seville oranges are essential, and only available for a few short weeks, I wanted to get it right! The main issue was the amount of sugar. Older recipes suggested a much larger proportion of sugar to fruit - back in the day the keeping qualities of the marmalade were more important than healthy eating worries and some older recipes used 6 pounds of sugar to 2 pounds of fruit! Some modern recipes suggested equal quantities of fruit and sugar, but these might not keep well, or need to be stored in the fridge. So I went for the middle ground and used a (still quite hefty!). 4 pounds of sugar to 2 pounds of fruit. I have also tried the blender recipes, which cut down on the time taken, but the cloudy results, although they taste good, don’t have the sparkly beauty of hand-cut peel in softly set jelly that you get by preparing it the traditional way.

shropshirelass @lesleymakescakes

Saved

Ingredients

2 lbsSeville oranges
1lemon
4 pintswater
4 lbsgranulated sugar

Saved

Steps

1

Put the oranges and the lemon into a large bowl, cover with boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain. This makes them easier to cut.
2

Cut the oranges and the lemon in half, squeeze out all the juice.
3

Remove all the pulp, pith and pips from the orange and lemon halves.
4

Cut the peel into thin strips.
5

Put the strips of peel, the orange and lemon juice, and the 4 pints of water, into a large preserving pan.
6

Put the pith, pulp and pips into a muslin bag or piece of cloth tied up, and suspend it in the pan with the peel and juice.
7

Bring the contents of the pan up to simmering point and simmer gently, uncovered, for approx. 2 hours. Check that the peel is soft, then remove the muslin bag and allow it to cool enough to handle. Add the sugar to the pan and squeeze the bag of pips over the pan to extract all the sticky, jelly-like stuff (this contains the pectin that will make the marmalade set.).
8

Bring back to the boil. Check for a set after 15 minutes. (Keep a saucer in the freezer, and pour a little of the marmalade onto it. Put it back in the freezer for a minute then push your finger through it - if it’s ready it will leave a clear path through the mixture and the skin will look crinkly.) Boil a little longer if necessary. When it’s ready the contents of the pan will have reduced.
9

Remove from the heat and allow the marmalade to settle for about 20 minutes, then spoon into warm, sterilised jars (I put mine in the oven after washing them) and cover. Label the jars when cold.