Orange Marmalade

There is nothing like fresh homemade marmalade. Marmalade can be made with many winter citrus fruits like kumquats, grapefruits, blood oranges, tangerines or oranges. Store bought marmalade has pectin along with high fructose corn syrup, potassium sorbate, citric acid and orange flavor. This fruit preserve has none of that. It does require time and patience to make but the results are well worth it and tastes so much better than anything you can buy at the store. You will have to be mindful and attentive when you are making this so that the sugar does not burn or the mixture bubble over. There are many recipes of making marmalade on the web. The idea of boiling the rind a few times came from The Los Angeles Times Cookbook “1000 Recipes of Famous Pioneer Settlers” published in 1905. Marmalade is best enjoyed from the day after you make it as it firms up and becomes thicker when cooled @sarchakra

COOK TIME: 1 hour

PREP TIME: 20 mins

YIELDS: 1 jar

Ingredients

Navel oranges 2 (unwaxed)
Granulated sugar 2 cups
Orange zest 1 tbsp (I had this leftover from another recipe so added this too)
Lemon zest 1 tbsp
Juice of 1 lemon
Water
Mason jar

Method

Wash and dry the oranges. Using a vegetable peeler to peel the orange. Take care not to peel the white pith.
Cut the peels into thin strips. Halve the strips.
Cut the oranges in half. Using a juicer, juice the oranges. Keep aside.
In a pan heat 2 cups of water. Let it come to a boil. Add the orange peel and let it cook for 10 mins. Discard the water reserving the peels. Repeat this process three times.
On the fourth time, after you have discarded the water three times, put in two more cups of water, lemon juice, the orange juice, orange peel, sugar and orange rind.
Cook on slow for about 50-55 minutes. Keep stirring every 5 minutes or so making sure the mixture does not burn at the bottom or bubble over.
In the meantime while that is happening, heat a large pan of water. Let it come to a boil. Add the mason jar, the lid and the rings and let it boil for 10 mins. Turn off the heat and let it stay in the water for a while. After about minutes, take it out and dry on kitchen towels.
Put a small plate in the freezer. To test if the marmalade is ready, put a dollop of the mixture on the cold plate and after a few seconds swirl it to see if it spreads out. If it runs easily, it is not ready yet. It should move slightly and stop. Then you know your marmalade is ready.
Pour marmalade into the mason jar. Let it cool down before putting the lid on. Store in the fridge.