In amongst all of the oranges in the grocery store these days I noticed some new varieties that I had not come across before and I have been trying them out. One of the more interesting ones was the seville orange which was not what I was expecting when I cracked one open to eat along with breakfast; boy was it ever bitter! A quick search on the internet showed that the seville orange is indeed supposed to be bitter and that in fact it is prized for it and that bitterness makes it the perfect candidate for making marmalade. When I read that I knew what I would be doing with the rest of my bag of seville oranges; making marmalade.
After browsing a couple dozen recipes for marmalade I noticed that none of them called for pectin and since I had never made a jam or preserve without pectin, I was looking forward to making the marmalade. Citrus fruit has a lot of pectin naturally and it concentrates in the seeds. With this in mind, one of the critical aspects of marmalade recipes is to catch all of the seeds, pulp and extra bits and tie them up in a cheese cloth bag. This bag of seeds is then simmered with the peels so that the pectin is released into the marmalade to thicken it naturally. Another thing that I liked about the recipes for marmalade it that they are all pretty simple ingredient wise usually only containing the oranges, sugar and water with a lemon thrown in for good measure.
Other than a bit of juicing, scraping, slicing and simmering, the marmalade was pretty easy to make and once you get it to the simmering phase you can let it go for the most part, just stirring it every once in a while.
In the end I was quite pleased with the final results including the way that the marmalade thickened up despite the lack of extra pectin. The marmalade itself has a really nice sweetness with undertones of bitterness that balance things out and the the orange peel is perfectly tender. I am looking forward to trying the marmalade out on something!
Marmalade
ingredients
- 1 pound seville oranges, about 4 (washed)
- 1 lemon (washed)
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups sugar
directions
- Cut the oranges and lemon in half cross wise.
- Squeeze the juice and pits out through a mesh sieve collecting the juice in a large sauce pan.
- Scrape all of the membranes and remaining pulp from the inside of the oranges. (For me it all came out easily leaving behind just the pith.)
- Collect the pit, membranes and any pulp that came out and place it in a double layer of 8 inch square cheese cloth and tie it off.
- Slice the orange and lemon peels into small thin pieces about 1/8 inch wide and no longer than an inch.
- Bring the juice, water, peels and cheesecloth to a simmer over medium heat and cook, covered, until the peel gets tender, about 2 hours. Stir every 15 minutes, squeezing the juices from the cheesecloth when you do.
- Remove the cheesecloth and squeeze out any liquid into the pot.
- At this point you should have about 4 cups of liquid. Add more water if you have less and simmer to reduce if you have more.
- Bring the liquid and sugar to a roiling boil until it thickens, about 10-15 minutes. To test, place a small spoonful on a plate that was in the freezer and run your finger through. If the path where your finger went through stays then it has set.
- Pour into your jars leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top, seal, let cool and refrigerate.
I love how brightly colored this marmalade is. Very pretty and summerlike.
Kevin,
Your marmalade looks great. I just finished making a small batch myself last month. Have you ever tried Using other citrus fruits? I have also made lemon, lime, and grapefruit marmalades and love the taste of each of them.
I've never made jam before but have always wanted to. A quick question, what did you mean by the last line: "After the jars are filled and seal cover them in boiling water for another 10 minutes."? Does that just simply mean, after the jars are filled you put the lids on and then put the whole thing back in the boiling water for 10 more minutes? That won't affect the contents with the heat?
Love the color and the idea of tying the seeds in the muslin cloth for the pectin!
Homemade marmelade is the best! Yours looks wonderful.
Cheers,
Rosa
You can't beat home made marmalade.
🙂 Mandy
We love marmalade. We recently stuffed it into cupcakes and it was delicious. 🙂 The next time you have bitter oranges, try this carmelized orange pizza. http://www.twin-tables.com/2011/02/candied-orange-and-arugula-flatbread.html No prep work, just coat in brown sugar and bake on the pizza. It is so good! Thanks for your marmalade recipe!
I love marmalades on buttered toast
I'm sending this recipe to my mom, she loves orange marmelade… and since she lives in Florida there's plenty of oranges there to make it!
Wonderfoul!
lovely looking shredded marmalade Kevin, like a jar of sunshine!… I love the shredded variety, it has so much more flavour… been loving your blog recently, very inventive. Dom x
Sounds kind of like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit! Yum. The marmalade sounds delicious!
Kevin, that looks fantastic. I think I'll give it a try. I am also loving all the currently available citrus. If you want somewhere to spread that orangey goodness, check out the English Muffin bread recipe on the King Arthur Flour website. I featured it on my blog a few weeks ago.
http://spiralstyle.blogspot.com/2011/01/productive-weekend.html
So impressed that you made your own jam! This reminds me of my gran who used to be a jam making queen – thanks for stirring up a wonderful memory.
You made it so easy… I haven't try making any confitures. Looked like i have no excuse now 😀 Thanks for sharing!
This is my favorite, not only for plain eating but baked into things.
I've wanted to make marmalade, so thanks for the encouragement, Kevin! Looks wonderful!
Orange marmalade is my absolute favorite thing on toast for breakfast but I've never tried making it on my own. It looks so easy I'm pretty sure I'll be making some this week!
I loved your blog congratulations
Kevin, this looks beautiful! I'm amazed at how easy it is, too.
This reminds me so much of my grandparents, who always had a jar of marmalade on their breakfast table. I can't wait to try this!
Made it with Blood Oranges, and really enjoyed it… a bit on the tart side though.
I made Seville orange marmalade last year and honestly, not a fan. Husband and mother in law are gangbusters for it though…and it's so pretty in the sun.
Daniel: I have not tried any other yet but a lemon or a grapefruit marmalade sounds really good!
So beautiful! I haven't tried making marmalade yet, but I'm thinking I'll have to do that soon. I'm on a citrus kick right now.
I'm the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics (www.punkdomestics.com), a community site for those of use obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It's sort of like Tastespotting, but specific to the niche. I'd love for you to submit this to the site. Good stuff!
You're photos look so pretty. I love the rich oranges of the jars.
Such a gorgeous color! I don't really like marmalade, but my mom loves the stuff. Maybe I ought to try this one for her!
This looks delicious. Will definitely try – perhaps with limes.
This looks amazing. Am going to try this using limes… Thank you!
This is great! I lived in Seville for a semester in college and let me tell you, in the early spring when the orange blossoms came out on the trees, the whole city smelled like citrus. It's one of the most beautiful aromas in the world, and the oranges make such a delicious marmalade.
I used your research and recipe to make a batch of kumquat marmalade which turned out pretty delicious. I think I might have to brave regular marmalade next since yours looks so wonderful! Thanks for the help!
I just saved this recipe for the winter when I'll have a great supply of citrus. How in the world did you get such a beautiful color?! I've made marmalade using a few different types of citrus and they're never this gorgeous!!
First of all, props on making your own english muffins! I am such a sucker for good crispy english muffins. These photographs are gorgeous, great lighting and it looks delish. I made a grapefruit marmalade that came out really yummy too!
I made it, and it is delicious!!!
My husband, of Scottish heritage, adds single malt scotch to his Seville orange marmalade. It’s phenomenal!!! Enjoy yours :-))
I like that idea!