- 1
Ingredients
- 8 oranges
- 4 lemons
- 6 cups water.
- 6 cups sugar, appoximately
Preparation
Step 1
Processing: Boiling Water Canner 10mins (half-pints, pints)
Wash oranges and lemons then drain. Remove stickers (if any) and cut away blemishes (if any). Cut citrus fruit into quarters. Holding fruit quarters over a bowl (to catch juice and seeds), remove peels and place peels only into a medium saucepan. Once you have peeled HALF of the fruit put the peels on to boil. Then finish peeling the rest of the citrus - keep the second half of the peels for another use, ie candied peels, or discard them.
Roughly chop the fruit and place into a bowl with the juice and any seeds. Measure the bowl of fruit/juice/seeds into a large, heavy-based pan. Add 1/4 cup water per 1 cup of fruit. ie 4 cups of fruit + 1 cup water. Bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Puree using a food blender, processor or immersion (stick) blender.
Boil citrus peels: 2 x 10 minutes.
Cover the peels in the medium pan with water. Bring to a boil then boil gently for 10 minutes. Discard water and drain peels well, then cover with fresh water and boil for a further 10 minutes. Drain well. Spread out on a plate (or cutting board) and leave until they are cool enough to handle. Then scoop away the soft bitter white pith and discard, leaving long pieces of the outer peel. Cut into very thin slices, as thinly as possible.
Measure the fruit puree back into the large pan, through a fine sieve to catch any seeds. Push it through the sieve with a spoon to push through any pulp if you like (this will result in a cloudier marmalade). If you're infusing the marmalade, add your whole spices here, or a touch of ground spices/vanilla bean if you like. Add sugar into the pan: 3/4 cup of sugar for every 1 cup of fruit. For example if you have 4 cups of fruit mixture in the pot, you will add 3 cups of sugar. Whisk well to combine, whisking occasionally over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Then stir in the rind strips and increase heat to bring the marmalade to a boil.
Place jars in a boiling water bath canner (or a pot with a round cake rack or a small clean cloth on the base). Cover jars with 1-2 inches of water above their rims, place the lid on the canner and bring to a boil. Then start your timer and boil jars for 10 minutes. Once the time is complete, turn the heat off and leave hot jars in hot water until ready to use.
Boil marmalade until set.
Bring marmalade to a boil. Set the heat to medium-high so it bubbles steadily. Setting (gel) point will take 15-30 minutes, whisking the pan every few minutes. Test using the freezer plate method (30secs on freezer temperature saucer, it wrinkles and doesn't run when angled). At the end you can also add up to 4 tablespoons of liqueur before bottling if you like.
While you are filling the jars with hot marmalade, place the lids into the boiling water canner. Do not simmer or boil, just let the lids heat through in the few minutes while you fill the jars, removing the lids from the water when you are ready to place them onto the jars so they stay hot.
Process in boiling water bath
for 10 minutes to seal (start timer once water is back to a boil). Then place on a towel-covered bench overnight to seal. The next day, check seals are okay, then date and label and store in a cool dark dry place for up to 12 months.
Check jars have sealed before labelling and storing in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 12 months.
warm and use as a glaze for chicken or pork - grilled, stir-fried or baked
pre-boiling the peels not only loosens the pith so you can scoop it out easily with a spoon or knife and then finely cut much easier - it also starts the cooking process so you don't end up with tough little pieces of rind in the marmalade. Lime peels take the longest so check that they can be easily cut into but still hold their shape. They will darken in colour after boiling.
adding the rind after the sugaris completely dissolved stops sugar from collecting in large pieces of rind
want a stronger tangy flavour? add extra lemon
don't like rind? leave it out of the recipe (or remove just before bottling to add extra flavour and help the marmalade to set quicker)
Additional Flavours (optional):
brandy
brown sugar
cinnamon
cinnamon + honey
cloves
Cointreau
Grand Marnier
grapefruit
honey
lemon
mint
rosemary
vanilla
liqueur