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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made marmalade for the first time yesterday, following Times recipe. Am really disappointd with results. It tastes good BUT the consistency is too thick, like toffee(I don’t think I could get it back out of the jar). Worse still, the zest layer of the shreds is really hard, even though I poached the oranges for one and half hours. Any ideas where I have gone wrong?
Hi Min
I’m no expert but I reckon that you put the pithy pulp in the muslin with the pips. This is squeezed to get out the pectin later on.
Not sure if my reply has winged over to you when I went into Delia recipe, as it disappeared from comment box. Sending again…
Following my new recipe I have so far:
removed peel from oranges and sliced up
removed juice from remaining orange halves which now leaves me with just pith shells.
So here is the problem…do I now chop up the pith shells and include – or put into muslin with pips
Thanks for being at your keyboard.
Min
Hi Min
I’m not sure what you have done exactly but we follow this method from Delia and it might help.You use all the peel the orange and the white pith under the peel.
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/dark-chunky-marmalade,1047,RC.html
Hello, just in middle of making marmalade to a recipe I haven’t tried before…moral here might be stick to what you know!!
So, have removed peel from oranges. Squeezed the juice. put pips and squidgy bits into muslin. What am I supposed to do with the remaining halves that are just the pith. Is this supposed to go into the pan too, as I imagine that it would not be good biting into pure pith amongst the orange peel? If you include the pith shells, do you chop it up.
Try putting a few Star Anise into the recipe. It’s just delicious.
Hope I hear back soon as I am poised to boil – the marmalade…
Min.
Hello Ronald Hayles
We have just bought one of the cut priced Lakeland steamers and would love your recipe for marmarlade.
Thanks in anticipation!
Thank you Mighty Mort and John, I,ve tried re-boiling a couple of jars for just 2-3 minutes and now have 2 jars of marmalade flavoured toffee… mmmmm!!!! Have binned them just incase some unsuspecting person makes an attempt to eat it but have kept the original stuff to use on steamed puddings etc. I,m not going to be put off though, knowing that there is help and support out there thanks to you and this brilliant website I shall “boiling up” again this weekend using a “Good Housekeeping” recipe that has been tried and tested over the years by a friend. I shall, of course, be letting you know how it goes – hope you don’t mind!
using the Mahu steamer it takes me just on the four hours from start to finish and that includes a sample on toast. The steamer produces beautiful soften skin. It’s colour may not suit everyone as it is somewhat darker than a shop bought jar but the flavour, I boast, cannot be bettered. I have done two batches and now have 18 lb jars to spoil my family with, all a very firm set. I will happily share my recipe and method but you do need a Mahu or the Lakeland steamer.
I’m actually in the middle of making 6lb of marmalade, it’s simmering as I type. Just googled ‘how to freeze seville oranges’ and found this site – fascinating and very interesting contributions. This is my first attempt for several years so really like a beginner. Have nothing to contribute, sorry, except to say thank you all – have now got lots of ideas for variations. Better get back downstairs and get those unused oranges in the freezer, have had enough slicing and chopping for one day!
If you use a old lid, how would you sterilise it?
Are plastic lids okay? e.g from chocolate spead or coffee jars?