ENGLISH MARMALADE

Good Morning to you,

I have finally caught up with myself and I have made some English Marmalade, which I promised I would make a couple of weeks ago.

Marmalade can be bought quite cheaply these days, but there is nothing like making your own, knowing what ingredients are in the marmalade and knowing there are no harmful additives or preservatives...and I believe home made marmalade has a much nicer flavour.

Making this English Marmalade is quite a bit  different to the Grapefruit marmalade which we made  here

I did say that I would make Nigella's recipe, with Seville oranges, but instead I thought I would show you the traditional way of making marmalade.  It does take quite a while, so make it on a day when you are not in a hurry and you have plenty of time. 

Whilst I was making this marmalade I listened to an interview with Joan Armatrading on the radio, then when the interview finished I  listened to her cd and of course I sang along....in a fashion....well I was on my own. 

I then listened to an audio book of The Lion in Winter, which I love almost as much as the film with Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. It was all very relaxing, as I was under no pressure to be anywhere, other than the kitchen.

I made 7 jars of marmalade in total, which will last quite a long time, some I will share with Phyllis when she comes to stay later in the year.

So, it is time to gather your equipment. You will need,

1 preserving pan

or

1 large deep, heavy based saucepan

7 medium sized glass jars

7 waxed discs

7 lids

sugar thermometer 

1 kg/2 1/4 lbs Seville Oranges

1 unwaxed lemon

2.2 litres or 9 cups of water

2kg/9 cups preserving sugar

1 large square of muslin
(I found this muslin with the red ribbon
tied around it, 
so I decided to leave the ribbon on when I
took this photograph).

Wash the oranges and the lemon

Cut into quarters

Remove the flesh, pips and pulp

Leaving just the peel.
This is a fiddly job, but I used a flexible
knife which made the job a lot easier.

Place the flesh, pips and pulp

in a large square of muslin and tie.

Decide on the size of muslin once
you have assembled the flesh, pips and pulp
as this will give you a better idea of
how much muslin you will need.

Cut the peel finely or coarsely,

depending on how you like

your marmalade.

Personally I like it cut finely.

(This took me about an hour to do.)

Place the water,

peel and muslin bag in a large saucepan,
or preserving pan

and bring to the boil.

Lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours
Removing any foam which appears as
this allows for a clear marmalade.

Remove the muslin bag carefully

and place in a large bowl

Remember, the contents will be

piping hot.

I find doing this first, before I place
the bag between two plates much easier.
Any juice caught in the bottom of the
bowl is then tipped back into the saucepan.

Place the muslin bag between

two plates.

Holding the plates over the pan

carefully squeeze to remove

as much liquid as possible.

Stir in the sugar until it has dissolved,

then boil rapidly until setting point

has been reached, 105C/220F

Ladle into warm, sterilized jars and seal

with wax paper discs.

When the marmalade is cold, label and date.

I have to apologise for the quality of the photographs today.  The morning started off with the sun streaming through the window, so I thought because I had good light, I could use a beautiful cloth which Danielle bought for me from Thailand.  I was wrong, as the sun disappeared and along came big black clouds. In future I am going to use a white tablecloth when I bake or cook during the winter, as I have realised I get a much better quality of photograph.  Then I can use my darker coloured cloths, during the summer, when the light is much brighter.

What is the saying "Your never too old to learn".

Enjoy your marmalade, it will take a while to make, but so worthwhile.

This week I shall be joining,

Kim at Savvy Southern Style

Claudia for My Favourite Thing

Connie at Family, Home and Life

Take care and I will see you later in the week.