A simple, beautiful marmalade
When it comes to ‘desert island’ or ‘last’ meals, mine would be Seville orange marmalade and good butter on toasted sourdough fruit bread with a strong flat white coffee, ideally enjoyed sitting outside in the gentle winter morning sunshine. I do think coffee, marmalade and buttered sourdough is the ultimate flavour and texture combination. And the process of making marmalade is one of those ‘fill the cup’ cooking moments, especially when you stand back and admire the end result – a pyramid of jars full of sweet, bitter sunshine.
Ingredients
- 1 kg 2 lb 4 oz oranges (see Note)
- 1.5 kg 3 lb 5 oz sugar
- ¼ cup 60 ml lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash and halve the oranges, then squeeze the juice into a large bowl.
- Slice the orange halves as thinly as you can, pith and all, and add them to the bowl with the orange juice.
- Pour in 9 cups (2.
- 25 litres) water.
- Leave the mixture to soak and soften overnight or for at least 12 hours.
- Transfer everything to a large preserving pan or saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat.
- Reduce the heat and simmer slowly for 2 hours or until the orange peel is tender.
- Add the sugar and lemon juice to the pan and bring to the boil, then cook, stirring regularly to prevent anything from catching and burning on the bottom of the pan, for 20 minutes or until the marmalade reaches about 105°C (221°F) on a sugar thermometer or passes the ‘set test’.
- Transfer the marmalade into sterilised jars and seal them tightly.
- Store in a cool dark place for a couple of months.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
If you can get your hands on them, Seville oranges are the very best.
