Seville Orange Marmalade

Seville Orange Marmalade with its signature balanced bitter-sweet flavour is enhanced with a hint of grapefruit and gently grounded from herbal rosemary, letting the soft and tangy peel take centre stage.

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time2

Resting Time12

Total Time15 30

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: British

Servings: servings

Calories: 69kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

1 kg Seville oranges about 7-9
1 grapefruit
2 rosemary stalks
1.5 litres water
1.2 kg granulated white sugar

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Day One

Juice the oranges and the grapefruit into a large preserving pan
Prepare the peel by cutting the remains of the fruit into segments. Take each segment and remove the pith and inner membrane using a very sharp knife at an almost horizontal angle cutting closely against the peel. This process is dependent on using a very sharp and finely bladed knife. You should be left with paper thin pieces of peel with barely any white attached. Set the peel aside.
Gather all the pips, pith, inner membrane and stray pulp and place, along with the rosemary stalks, on top of a large muslin cloth, bringing the cloth together and tying together with string to make a bag.
Thinly slice all the peel.
Place the sliced peel and the muslin bag into the preserving pan with the citrus juice and add the water. Place a lid over the top of the pan and leave everything to soak overnight.

Day Two

The next day bring the contents of the preserving pan to the a gentle boil. Turn the heat down, put the lid on and simmer for 2 hours until the peel is soft.
Pre-heat the oven to 150°C / 130°C fan assisted / gas mark 2 / 300°F.
Remove the muslin bag from the preserving pan and squeeze the excess liquid which contains all the pectin from the muslin and then discard the bag.
Strain the liquid and measure it out without the peel. You need about 1.5 litres. If there is not enough then top up with water. The more water you are adding the longer your marmalade will take to set so just bear this in mind. Once you have the right amount of liquid then pour the liquid, along with the peel, back into the preserving pan.
At this point sterilise your jars and lids and place your saucers into the freezer for your setting test later. (see notes)
Warm the sugar in oven at for 10 minutes.
Stir the warm sugar into the marmalade liquid until dissolved and slowly heat it up to a rolling boil.
Boil hard for fifteen minutes then start checking for the set using the saucer test. If the marmalade isn’t setting then carry on cooking.
Once the marmalade has reached the correct setting point then remove from the heat, skim off the scum and decant into sterilised jars.

Notes

This recipe makes enough to fill 8 x 190ml jars.
You can swap the grapefruit for 2 x lemons.
You can omit the rosemary or amp it up if you prefer a more pronounced flavour.
Make sure to have a very sharp and finely bladed knife for removing the pith and membrane from the peel. Hold the knife at a slight angle and slice them carefully away. You may need to do this twice on each segment to get all the membrane off.
Patience is key when you’re waiting for your marmalade to get to the setting point. Especially if you’ve had to add more water to the marmalade to reach the correct 1500g. More water will take the marmalade more time to set.

Sterilising Jars & Lids

To sterilise the jars place the very clean jars you would like to use in an oven pre-heated to 160°C / 140°C fan assisted / gas mark 3 / 320°F for 20 minutes. Sterilise the lids by dropping them into a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes with a splash of vinegar. I don’t sterilise my lids in the oven as they tend to ruin.

The Saucer (Wrinkle) Test

To check whether your marmalade has reached setting point, place a few saucers in the freezer before you begin. Once the marmalade has been boiling hard for at least 15 minutes and reached 104-105.5°C (220°F), turn off the heat and spoon a small amount onto a cold saucer. Leave it for about 60 seconds, then gently push it with your finger. If the surface wrinkles, it’s ready. If not, return the marmalade to the heat and boil for a further 3-5 minutes before testing again.

US customary measurements: These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups

Nutrition information: Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.

The nutrition serving is for 1 serving of marmalade, assuming each serving is 20g.

Nutrition