January is all about citrus and citrus is all about marmalade. Marmalade is defined as a jelly with citrus rind suspended throughout giving a bitter contrast to the sweet jelly. The first commercial production of marmalade is reported to have been in Scotland in 1797. Thus, launched marmalade into a breakfast staple in the United Kingdom and around the world.
I love marmalade and have made many recipes over the years. But marmalade can be onerous to make. My friend makes a marvelous Seville marmalade, but it is a three-day process. Even using a regular long-boil method, marmalade can take four or five hours to make. So, I set out to make great time-efficient marmalade. Yup, I mean using pectin!
I confess to feeling like a bit of a cheater in choosing pectin, but the results helped to assuage my guilt. I found recipes from SureJel, Certo, Pomona all of which had good reviews. I chose to use a recipe from Bernardin online and have made several batches with great success. The quicker cooking time makes for a bright flavour and the rind has been beautifully suspended. You can modify the recipe using the citrus you like as long as the cooked volume is 4 cups.
Orange – Lemon Marmalade
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...Through the centuries, marmalade has played a central role as a breakfast condiment and has been useful in baking, glazing meats and simply as a mid-day treat with tea. For those who love marmalade but are wary of the time it takes to make, try following the “cheaters” guide for a great product in half the time! Bring on the scones!
Ingredients
- 4 oranges, washed and scrubbed to remove wax
- 2 large lemons, washed and scrubbed
- 2.5 cups water
- 1/8 tsp baking soda which softens the rind reducing cooking time
- 6.5 cups sugar
- 1 pkg regular pectin (I used Certo)
Instructions
With a vegetable peeler, remove the rind from all fruit trying not to get the white pith. Using a sharp knife, cut the rind into very thin slivers. Put the rind into the water with the baking soda and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Remove the white pith from all fruit. Over a bowl, cut away the segments of the fruit so that the segments and good flesh fall into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the fruit. Remove seeds and membranes. Once all the fruit is done, add it to the rind mixture and cook for about 10 minutes. Pour this mixture into a heat proof large measuring cup. There should be 4 cups. If you are short, add the juice of one or two oranges. If you have more than 4 cups, remove some of the juice to get the volume to 4 cups.
In a large pot, stir the pectin into the 4 cups of citrus mixture. Bring to a strong boil.
Add sugar all at once and bring back to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute. Turn off heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Skim.
Ladle into clean, hot 250 ml jars leaving ¼ inch headspace. Clean rims of jars. Affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight. Process jars in a water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before removing jars from canner and placing on a heatproof surface to cool completely. When cool, check seals, label, and store. Any unsealed jars can be refrigerated and eaten!
No Comments