Seville oranges are here, start making Marmalade.

Seville Oranges are the only fruit of the moment.

Its that time of year again when you can make your own jars of sunshine to have for breakfast.

Seville Orange Marmalade recipe

You will need

1 dozen Seville oranges

Cold water

Preserving sugar 

Piece of Muslin

You will see in the recipe exactly how much sugar and water you will need as it comes down to weight.......

Wipe the oranges clean, quarter them, remove all the pips and put aside, dont throw them away as you will need them later. and then cut the quarters into thin or thick slices depending on preference. Weigh this pulp, and measure 3 pints of cold water to every pound of pulp.

Tie the pips into the piece of muslin and put all the pulp and water into a large bowl and leave to stand for 24 hours. 

Place everything into your preserving pan and simmer until the peel is thoroughly soft. This will take about an hour. To check the peel is ready just cut a piece and if there is no resistence to the knife then its ready. Pour the mixture back into the bowl you were using to soak and leave for 12 hours, including the muslin with the pips.

Weigh the pulp and allow 1lb of preserving sugar to every pound of pulp, if you like a lot of jelly with the fruit in your marmalade then up the quantity of sugar to 1 1/4 pound of the preserving sugar. 

Bring to the boil slowly stirring it as it goes to dissolve the sugar, once it is boiling, skim off any froth that rises to the surface. (If you don't your marmalade will be cloudy.) Leave at a fast boil for 15 minutes. Remove a tablespoon of the marmalade, put it on a plate, and pop it into the fridge for a few minutes. If a thick skin forms on the surface of the refrigerated marmalade, then it is ready and you can switch the pan off. If the tester is still liquid, then let the marmalade boil for longer. Test every 10 to 15 minutes. Some mixtures can take up to 50 minutes to reach setting consistency. 

Ladle into the sterilised pots and seal immediately. 

Make sure that the jars are warmed before you decant the marmalade, do this by popping them into a warm oven for a couple of mins.

Top tip

The colour of the marmalade will be improved if the preserving pan is rubbed over with a lemon before you start, this will give a lovely clarity to the end product. Don't ask me how, but it does.