Marmalade

Those Jam jars are coming in handy! Thank you to Brenda who donated 2 kgs of oranges from her garden, which combined with lemons and limes from mine have created a fabulous marmalade.

Now I am not really a fan of marmalade, but my partner Myles is. He also is a fan of photography, and this exercise turned into something we could share - I cook, he takes the photo and of course eats!

Tips

Marmalade can be tricky. It is important to remove the scum from the top after you have added the sugar, otherwise this forms crystallines in your jar and are not attractive! Another tip, to ensure that your fruit does not float to the top, is to let the marmalade cool slightly before you pour into the jars. This keeps the fruit even - see above photo.

One other tip I have learned, jars with a pop lid, need to be inverted after filling for a few seconds this creates the heat seal. As the lid cools, you will hear a "pop" and the jar is well sealed.

My recipe is a combination of many with a strong influence from Stephanie Alexanders "Seville Marmalade."

Marmalade recipe

1 kg oranges

4 large lemons

2-4 limes (optional)

2 litres water

2 kgs white sugar

Remove zest from fruit with a vegetable peeler and cut into fine julienne. (There is no short cut here!). Juice fruit and reserve pips. Cut remaining pith into strips and put into a muslin bag with the pips. Tie firmly. Put all ingredients except sugar into a non reactive pot and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 hour with the lid slightly ajar, until liquid is reduced by half. Cover pot and leave to cool overnight.

Next day, preheat over to 180 degrees. Squeeze muslin bags very firmly into reduced liquid. Discard muslin bag. Bring liquid back to the boil with pot resting on a simmer mat. Meanwhile, warm sugar in the oven. Add sugar to pot and stir until dissolved. Boil briskly for 5-10 minutes until it has reached setting stage. Bottle in hot sterilised jars (see note above)