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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Hi Willie M,
Luckily Mildred had pipped me to the post. She has the expertise that I long for.
Just wanted to say. If you do the setting test on a deeply chilled plate results should be clear within seconds. If you use the sugar with added pectin-it works fast but it also adds an ‘artificial’ flavour to your preserves, in my opionion. I just sent round a wheelbarrow load to a neighbour as I didn’t want to use it again but also didn™t want to throw it away.
Great idea using the runny marmalade in bread and butter pud!
Thank you, Mildred. I do appreciate your advice – and the time you must have taken to write what you have. I’m keen to get it right, and I shall heed your advice, but I don’t think, after four attempts, this is the moment. (I now have a wife who is taking notes about my strange marmalade-making behaviour and I can see it being used against me when I start doing other ‘strange’ things.)
Tomorrow is market day, and if there are still Seville oranges to be had, I shall buy some more, hide them in the freezer, and bring them out when she visits daughter for a few days. I am determined to get it right, and with your help, I must be a lot closer. I never knew marmalade-making would be so exciting.
By the way, one of the arguments I have used to support my perseverance is this. I grew up near Paisley, Scotland, the home of Robertson’s Golly Marmalade. I have told my wife often in the past weeks that if Mrs Robertson had given up after her first few attempts in the wash-house copper in her backyard, we would never have had her world-famous marmalade, and phrases like ‘Golden Shred’ and Silver Shred’ would be totally unknown.
And finally, last week at the market, I was telling my veg lady my troubles and asking what I could do with all these jars of runny marmalade, and she advised using it in bread and butter puddings – and it works a treat.
Just re reading your comment Willie M I would also suggest buying a jam thermometer so you can be sure to reach 104c. If you are certain your meat thermo is spot on then can you turn your cooker up hotter? It really won’t set unless it reaches that magical 104c.
As for the jars of un set marmalade . . . I honestly feel it is a waste of time trying anything; it is so frustrating if you try to remedy a poor batch, and then it doesn’t work (I am talking from experience here and I am afraid I have little patience!). Once you get a batch that HAS set you will soon forget the rest! This is of course only my opinion!
Hi Willie M, it is so annoying when marmalade doesn’t set! There are lots of tips I, and I am sure others, can offer you, and we probably all swear our own personal method is the best.
I always add a couple of lemons. If, after the first attempt it doesn’t set fully, when I make another batch I use the special sugar with pectin added! I can’t face all that cutting of the peel only to have a less than perfect product!
Here is how I do it:
I start the night before so I can sit and relax while I prepare everything.
Take 3lbs of seville oranges and 2 big lemons.
Cut the fruit in half and squeeze the juice and bits out – pour the resulting liquid through a sieve and place the juice in the fridge.
Put the pips and bits in a square of muslin ready to tie up later.
Cut the orange and lemon peel very finely and leave overnight in 5 pints of cold water. Put any bits in the muslin bag and then tie it up.
The next morning simmer the peel very slowly in a lidded pan with the muslin bag of pips in.
Check it is very soft after 2 hours.
The contents of the pan will be reduced by about half at the most.
Cool slightly and then squeeze every bit of ‘gunk’ out of the muslin bag into the pan.
Add the juice saved in the fridge and also 6lbs of sugar. Stir gently and allow the sugar to dissolve.
Place back on the heat and bring it up to a rolling boil. Don’t overstir it from this stage.
From when it starts to boil I set the timer for 15 to 20 minutes. When the time is up I perform a ‘setting test’.
The temp will be 104c and when I hold the wooden spoon over the pan it will definately look like a jelly drip on the edge of the spoon.
If it doesn’t set the timer for another 5 minutes, boil until then and check again.
And a third time of necessary.
I always think it changes how it boils when it reaches the perfect setting point.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 mins before pouring into sterilised jars.
Store for 2 weeks before using.
As I said before, that is just my method . . . I am not familiar with the recipes you mentioned. I have tried a few different ways though and this is the one I prefer.
I also think you have to go into the job with a really confident attitude! Don’t let the little orange fruits beat you!! Good luck.
Do you mind a query from a novice? I’m recently retired, and having made wonderful orange wine many years ago with Seville oranges, I decided this year to try marmalade. My first recipe was from Videojug, and I ended up with beautifully coloured and tasting marmalade, but it didn’t behave like marmalade – it was runny and obviously hadn’t set properly. My next two attempts were from Delia’s ‘Complete Cookery Course’, but the outcome was the same. My fourth (and final, according to my wife) attempt today used Diana Henry’s recipe from Market Kitchen last week, in which she mentioned the setting point is at 106 degrees. I used a meat thermometer in the absence of a sugar thermometer, but couldn’t get a higher temp than 100 degrees. The final result is as the previous three. I guess I’m not getting that setting point, despite following the recipes to the letter. How can this be? Any suggestions will be gratefully received. Also, any ideas what I can do with 26 jars of runny, but beautiful, marmalade?
Hi Jane
I do hope that it works out well for you. There’s nothing like homemade marmalade.
Hi.Many thanks…will give it a try
Hi Jane
Freezing them makes no difference to the setting time. They are soft when unfrozen, and easier to cut up.
thank you! Does freezing them effect the setting of the marmalade that you make with the frozen oranges? Sorry to be stupid but until reading this forum I didn’t realise that it was possible to freeze oranges!
Hi Jane
Just put them in freezer bags and pop them in the freezer.