Blood Orange Marmalade

Two jars of Orange Marmalade, one with a spoon lifting a scoop of marmalade out of it.

If you enjoy making your own condiments from seasonal produce, this Blood Orange Marmalade is for you. Spread some on hot buttered toast, an English muffin or croissant; you will find it a great way to start the day, and it may become your favourite breakfast condiment.

Course Condiments, Jams and Preserves

Cuisine British

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Inactive Time 12

Total Time 13

Servings x 300ml (10 oz) jars

Calories 1025kcal

Author Alexandra Cook - It's Not Complicated Recipes

Ingredients

500 g (1.1 lb) blood oranges - prepared weight See Note 1
1.75 litres (7 cups) filtered water
60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
1 kg (4 ½ cups) white granulated sugar See Note 2

Instructions

Please Read First:

Preserve making is quite simple, but we do recommend reading the recipe through first and following these tips:
- weigh your ingredients for accuracy.
- do not double the recipe or alter the quantities.
- yes, it’s a lot of sugar. It’s also a lot of water. When making marmalade, the sugar is not just a sweetener, it also assists with gelling and preservation. When prepared properly, your end result will be the perfect mix of sweet, citrus tang and bitter, as marmalade should be. This is an old-fashioned recipe (my great great grandmothers.)
- use a very large saucepan as the marmalade needs to rapidly boil and will foam up and you don’t want it to overflow.
- ensure the marmalade reaches setting point. Keep in mind the marmalade will be very liquid while hot. Do not over boil as you will risk burning the marmalade.
- allow 24-48 hours once jarred for the pectin to activate and the marmalade to set properly.
- if after this time your marmalade hasn’t set, it likely wasn’t cooked for long enough initially. In this case, add the marmalade back to a clean saucepan with the juice of a fresh lemon. Bring back to the boil and start testing after 5 minutes of rapid boiling.

To Sterilise the Jars:

On the day you will be cooking the marmalade, sterilise the jars you'll be using to store the marmalade.
Choose glass jars with an airtight, metal lid and ensure they have been washed in the dishwasher or by hand in hot soapy water then rinsed well.
Preheat the oven to 130 Degrees C (270 F) and place the jars in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Allow the lids to air dry.
Ensure the jars are hot when you add the marmalade.

For the Blood Orange Marmalade:

Place 2 saucers or small plates in the freezer, ready to check for the setting point of your marmalade.
Thoroughly wash the blood oranges. Remove each end of the oranges to get rid of excess pith and discard. Cut the oranges into quarters lengthways. Holding two of the quarters together, use a sharp knife and slice the fruit as thinly as possible, removing and discarding any seeds if necessary. Repeat with the remainder.
Place the citrus slices in a large glass bowl. Add the water, cover the bowl with some cling film and leave the fruit to stand overnight in a cool location away from direct sunlight.
Soaking the fruit serves two purposes. Firstly, it softens the peel and speeds up the cooking process and secondly, it helps release the pectin required for setting the jam.
The following day, place the fruit, water and lemon juice into a very large, non-reactive saucepan. (See Note 3.)
Over medium-high heat, bring the fruit and water to the boil. Boil for 12-15 minutes or until the peel is tender, stirring occasionally with a long-handled wooden spoon. (Do not use metal as it will get too hot.)
The peel must be soft before adding the sugar as it will not soften further after adding it.
Lower the heat, add the sugar and stir well to dissolve it.
After dissolving the sugar, increase the heat and return the fruit to the boil, stirring occasionally. Continue to stir until the marmalade reaches setting point - about 20-25 minutes. When the very aggressive bubbles subside to a slower, gentler boil, that's an indication that your marmalade may have reached setting point. (See Note 4.)
To test for setting point, you can use the “wrinkle” test. Remove your saucepan from the heat, take one of your saucers from the freezer and pour a small amount of marmalade onto it. Let it cool for a minute then push against the marmalade with the tip of your finger. If the surface wrinkles, even very slightly, it means setting point has been reached. If not, return the saucepan to the heat, boil a further 5 minutes, then check again. (See Note 5.)
Alternatively, you can use a jam/candy thermometer which you clip to the side of your saucepan. When attaching your thermometer, make sure that the base is not touching the bottom of the saucepan. Your marmalade has reached setting point when the temperature reaches 104.5 degrees C or 220 F.
I use both methods to check setting point.
Your marmalade will be very liquid when you add it to the jars - it will only start to thicken as it cools.
Let the marmalade stand for about 10 minutes to allow the fruit to settle. If you bottle it immediately, the fruit will not be evenly distributed and will rise to the top of the jar.
Remove your jars from the oven and carefully ladle the marmalade into the heated, sterilised jars. Fill the jars as full as possible to minimise the amount of air between the marmalade and the lid. The marmalade should not touch the lid.
You need to be very careful. Splashing yourself with hot marmalade will result in a very serious burn. I suggest you have clothing with long sleeves and ensure that you do not have children nearby.
Store the jars of marmalade in a dark, dry, cool location. If cooked as per the recipe and ladled into properly sterilised jars, the marmalade will be shelf stable for 12 months.
If you prefer to can this recipe, please refer to this guide.

Notes

Blood oranges: as the peel is such an important part of the marmalade, I like to use organic or home-grown citrus. Commercially produced citrus fruit often have a wax coating and may have been sprayed with something toxic. If this is all that you can obtain, you can clean the oranges by placing them in a colander and pouring over freshly boiled water. Then, scrub them gently with a nail brush while holding them under cold running water.
Sugar: this may seem an excessive amount of sugar, however, this is not the usual fruit to sugar ratio. We use a large amount of water to soak the fruit. The water is included in the marmalade, so this means a larger amount of sugar. The sugar is essential for the preservation of marmalade and also to achieve the perfect setting point.
Non-reactive items: we recommend using a glass bowl to soak the fruit and a non-reactive saucepan such as stainless steel, glass, ceramic or enamelled cookware. Aluminium, copper and iron bowls or pans are reactive. Acidic foods, such as citrus, may discolour and take on a metallic taste if these are used. A large saucepan is essential. When you add the sugar, it foams up enormously. Without a very large saucepan, there is the risk of it boiling over.
Boiling time: the boiling time may vary slightly depending on several factors, the thickness of your fruit slices, the width of your saucepan and the heat at which the fruit is boiled.
When adding to jars: your marmalade will be very liquid when you add it to the jars. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Leave it for 24 hours and then check again. If it is still runny, you can re-boil the marmalade. Empty the contents of the jars back into the saucepan and bring to a boil. To increase the pectin and help the marmalade to set, you can add the juice of a lemon. Boil for a few minutes and test again. However, if the marmalade was initially boiled too long, it can still result in it not setting as the pectin may have been damaged, and the sugars may over caramelise, causing it to be excessively sweet.
Altitude: for jam and marmalade making, altitude can cause the timings of this recipe to be different. We recommend adjusting accordingly based on your location.
Storage: store the jars in a cool, dark location. When the marmalade has been cooked to setting point and jars properly sterilised, the Blood Orange Marmalade will be shelf stable for 12 months. Store open jars in the refrigerator.
Nutritional information: is based on one 300 ml jar.

Nutrition