Mum’s Traditional Seville Orange Marmalade Recipe
Marmalade is a big part of fond childhood memories for me.
Eating endless amounts of this sweet, sticky treat on toast with gallons of tea was a Sunday tradition.
And later marmalade was a staple for my cupboards at university - for hungover tea and toast marathons whilst sat on the sofa mindlessly watching box sets.
As the New Year rolls around, so does marmalade making season.
So I thought I'd share my mum's extensively tried and tested recipe for Seville orange marmalade.
The oranges you need to make marmalade with - Seville oranges, are in season in January. That’s the time to get them and make your marmalade right away, or freeze them to make marmalade with later in the year.
To make about 10 jars of marmalade, you'll need:
🍊 1 kg Seville oranges (find them in the supermarkets throughout January and early Feb)
💧 2.5 litres water
🧑🍳 2kg sugar
🍋 Juice of 1 and a half lemons
🧵 Cheese cloth and some string
🫙 Plenty of sterilised jars - this recipe makes quite a lot of marmalade so I'd prepare about 9/10 normal size jars - it's better to have too many than not enough
Ingredients for making marmalade, shredded Seville oranges and orange juice Josephine Brooks
1 | Juice it
Wash the oranges and lemons, slice them in half and squeeze out the juice. Add all of the juice to the biggest pan you've got.
2 | Shred the orange rind
Make sure all the soft pithy stuff from inside the fruit is removed, but leave the thick pith on the rind.
Put the soft pith, any pips, and the lemon skins into a piece of cheese cloth, tie the top, and put into the pan. Shred the orange skins finely, and add these to the pan.
3 | Cook
Add the water and cook gently for 2 hours, or until the peel is quite soft. Squeeze the juice out of the cheese cloth and remove it (make sure you get as much juicy stuff out as possible as this is where the pectin can be found - which will help the marmalade set).
4 | Steralise your jam jars
While your marmalade is simmering, you can sterilize your jars (to make sure your marmalade keeps for as long as possible).
Wash your jars with hot, soapy water.
Place the jars on a tray lined with baking paper. If you’re using Kilner or Bell jars make sure to remove the rubber parts before putting them in the oven.
Place your jars on their tray, in the oven and turn the oven on to 100 C (warm the jars up with the oven so they don't crack due to a dramatic temperature change).
Once the oven has reached 100 C leave your jars in there for 5 minutes or so, then turn the oven down to around 70 C to keep your jars warm for when you pour your marmalade into them.
5 | Turn up the heat
Add the sugar and cook on a medium heat, stirring frequently until it has dissolved.
Then boil vigorously for about 20 minutes, until setting point is reached (about 105 C, or until a blob dropped onto a saucer forms a wrinkly skin as it cools).
Pour into warmed, sterilised jars.
And finally enjoy it smothered on thick slices of toasted farmhouse bread with a steaming cup of tea. Yum.
Making marmalade is a bit of a labour of love but it’s so worth it.
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