Perfect Seville orange marmalade recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Jam Jelly and Preserves | 265 comments
As the topping for the best slice of toast of the day, good marmalade is a joy. We like it dark, chunky, hand cut and never in moderation.
Marmalade was the first preserve that we made. We were so proud of it that we could hardly bear to move it from the worktop to the larder, let alone eat it. Eventually we opened the first jar and lavished it on slice after slice of hot buttered toast.
We immediately christened it Intellectual Marmalade as so much ground work, research and care had gone into its manufacture. Visitors who spotted the label were wary of it at breakfast. Would it somehow have an effect on the brain? When they saw us slopping it onto our toast they happily did the same. No one ever mentioned the name.
We like dark old fashioned marmalade. We couldn’t find a recipe for this so we based our recipe on the classic Seville Orange Marmalade in Delia’s Complete Illustrated Cookery Course
Marmalade can be a bit of a palaver. It starts with hunting down and bagging the fruit. Despite many forays I couldn’t find any Seville oranges this year. Just as I was about to give up I saw them twinkling out in the Cambridge market on Monday. Investing my small change in three kilos of the fruit, I staggered back to the car park with just enough cash to release Jalopy from the gloomy depths.
Having made no notes on the timings of our Intellectual Marmalade recipe, I couldn’t face another day/night of babysitting the bubbling vats. I was determined to find the best old fashioned marmalade recipe, with proper timings. A couple of days ago I discovered a Dark Chunky Marmalade recipe on Delia Online. It’s made in two steps, so it’s great if you are working full time as you can spread the process over two evenings (I would recommend a spreading the task over a weekend unless your evening starts at 15.00 hours). Seville oranges will survive happily in the fridge for at least a week. They keep for months in the freezer and, if you have the room, you can stash them and make fresh marmalade throughout the year.
We have finally made Delia’s Dark Chunky Marmalade. We combined her recipe with our method and simmered ours for a good six hours before setting point was reached. It looks divine and tastes even better than my mum’s. I’m amazed that Paddington Bear hasn’t dropped by.
N.B. If you try this recipe, the poaching liquid is used in the final marmalade. The recipe isn’t very clear on this point and I found the answer in the DeliaOnline forum (press the Community button on her site to access this great resource). Also you need a very large pot! To stop all the peel rising to the top of the jars let the marmalade cool a little before bottling in sterlised jars.
Update January 14th 2011
We now have several new recipes for Seville orange marmalade to suit every taste:
A super three fruit marmalade. A best seller on our gateside stand.
Easy Seville orange marmalade. This fine shredded marmalade is a classic and gets the thumbs up from my mum and is really easy to make!
Seville orange and quince marmalade. Lots of deep flavours in this orange and quince mix.
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Well, I’m just about to take the plunge with 1.5kg of oranges and three variations on a theme:
1) with curacao added at the end
2) with treacle (dark old-fashioned result – cooked separately)
3) with cardamom (added at end)
This discussion has been very interesting to read. I still love your site Fi, and have had many happy days making preserves (last lot was pear chutney).
Here’s hoping my marmalade works out!
Hi Kate
The poaching liquid is used in the marmalade. See the last paragraph of my article.
Do hope that your marmalade works out well for you.
Ps,
To those people searching for Seville’s, Tesco seem to have them in stock but they are charging £2.99 for 1.5kg – which I think is exhorbitant, finally got mine from a local market.
Hi,
After rave reviews over Christmas about the Apple Chutney and Apple and Chilli jelly I made using your recipes, I am about to embark on Seville orange marmalade.
I looked at the Delia recipe for Dark Chunky Marmalade. Can you clarify what to do with the poaching liquid? Do you use 1pt to simmer with the fruit to get the pectin out and then use the rest of the 5pts in the final stages with the peel and sugar to make the marmalade.
Very confused and don’t want to muck it up after searching for Seville’s all over Durham today…
Hello Salli
It might be worth telephoning your local Waitrose to find out when the next btach may be in.
Otherwise try local markets (cheaper).
Good luck with your search.
I can not find a selville orange for love or money in Kent. Where are they all? The stuff I made last year is down to half a jar. Personally I can’t get close enough to it to eat it but the hubby loves it. Thick cut only.
Normally leave it uncovered unless instructed otherwise. But simmer very slowly.
Thanks very much, I think I’m just lacking in confidence! Do you think I should cover it whilst its simmering as my recipe doesn’t state??
Hi Lindsey
I don’t know the book or the recipe but some marmalade does take quite a few hours. We simmer ours very gently for hours and hours to get a good dark mature flavour and colour. So I’d just go with the flow if I was you.
I’m in the middle of making my first ever batch of marmalade and am using a recipe from “The Cordon Bleu Book of Jams Pickles and Preserves”. So far I have quartered the fruit, removed and saved the pips, shredded the fruit finely and left the whole lot (inc pips) plus 3.5 pints of water per pound of pulp for 24 hours. Today I am simmering it all until the peel is thoroughly soft and my recipe says this will take 4 to 5 hours – does this sound too long as other recipes I’ve looked at on here don’t stste that length of time. Has currently been simmering for 1 hour… I’d appreciate any advice!