Wednesday 22 January 2014

Eat the Seasons

Create's delicious homemade marmalade recipe
January and February is the season for the fabulous bitter Seville orange, the finest marmalade fruit of all - so we thought we would share with you our secrets to make your own batch of the delicious stuff.

What you need
1kg Seville oranges
1 lemon
2kg granulated sugar
1 piece of large muslin
2 litres of water
 Makes 3 x 700g Jars

Method

STEP 1.
 Using a potato peeler, thinly peel oranges and remove as much white pith fromt the peel as possible.
Cut peel to desired thickness.
 

STEP 2.
 Line a sieve with a large piece of muslin and place over a 3 litre pan.

STEP 3.
Cut your peeled oranges and the lemon in half and squeeze their juice into the muslin.
 

STEP 4.  
Add the remainder of the orange flesh, including pith and pips into the muslin and tie with string. Place in pan with juice.
TIP 1. 
We only use half the pith as it tends to make the marmalade very bitter, but do use all the pips as this will help the marmalade to set!

STEP 5.
Add the peel and water to the pan and bring to a soft rolling boil for 1.5 hours until the peel is soft.


TIP 2. 
At this stage you can add some star anise and cinnamon in a small muslin bag (to save them from breaking up in your marmalade) - this will add a spicy depth to your preserve.

STEP 6. 
Remove the muslin bag with your oranges, pith and pips in from the pan and squeeze off any excess liquid using tongs. Reduce heat and ad the sugar. Stir gently until dissolved.

STEP 7.
Bring to the boil for 20 minutes and do a setting test.

SETTING TEST:
If you have a sugar thermometer your marmalade should have reached 116 degrees centigrade. If not, pre-place a saucer in the freezer for 15 minutes and drop a small spoonful of the marmalade on the cold saucer. If it wrinkles (when you run your finger through it) then the marmalade is ready and will set, if not, continue to boil and keep trying the setting test.
TIP 3.
You can buy preserve sugar which is a fail-safe to ensure it sets! Make sure to follow the specific jam sugar timings.

STEP 8.
Sterilise jars by washing thoroughly and placing in a low heat oven dry.

STEP 9.
Using your funnel, decant the marmalade while hot into jars, top with parchement paper and seal.