Marmalade

My husband, as any good Briton, loves marmalade. And the bitterer it is, the better, which is something I still don’t fully understand… But if he is happy with his super bitter marmalade, here I am willing to harvest the entire crop from the promenade’s trees.

Here is the recipe. I got it from an English cookery book and it is called “Busy woman’s marmalade”. I don’t want to even imagine how the recipe would be for “Woman with a lot of free time marmalade”.

MARMALADE

8 seville oranges

1 juicy orange

1 juicy lemon

1 litre of water

1.5 kg of sugar

Squeeze out juice from all the fruit. Put pips in a jug with some water. This will provide pectin that will thicken the marmalade.

Put the halved fruit cases through a mincer using finest blades.

Put the minced fruit into the juice and water and leave to soak until the next day.

Then turn soaked fruit, juice and water into a pot adding the strained water from the pips. 

Bring to boil and boil gently until peel is soft when pinched between finger and thumb.

Add sugar and boil rapidly until marmalade sets when tested. To do this, take a teaspoonful of marmalade on to a cold plate. Allow to cool. The surface should set and wrinkle when pushed with the finger.

Allow to cool a little but pot while still warm into sterilised jars. Fill jars to the very top, close with the lid and place upside down until they have completely cool down.