Dark Marmalade
Ingredients
1.35 kg Oranges
2 Lemon
3 l Water
2.7 kg Granulated white sugar
Method
Wash the fruit and place in a preserving pan with the water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover with a large piece of foil doubled and poach gently for about 3 hours. The foil is designed to prevent the liquid from evaporating.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Scoop the fruit out of the liquid into a colander over a pan to catch any juice. Cut the oranges in half and scoop out all the flesh and pips into a saucepan. Do the same with the lemons but discard the lemon peel. Add about 570ml (1pint) of the poaching liquid to the saucepan with the pulp and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid using gauze over a sieve and leave it to cool and drip.
Cut the orange peel into strips the thickness you prefer. Add these back into the preserving pan with the poaching liquid. When the pulp is cool, gather up the corners of the gauze and squeeze as much of the liquid out as you can. Add all the strained liquid into the preserving pan.
Put the sugar into a heatproof bowl and warm in the oven pre-heated to 170�C. Place the preserving pan over the heat and once warmed add the sugar, stirring until it is completely dissolved. Turn the heat up and allow the marmalade to bubble away gently for about 2.5 hours then test for a set. This is done by spooning a little onto a cold plate and once cooled testing whether it forms a crinkly skin when pushed with a finger. If it is not set, continue boiling and re-test every 15 minutes. Once set, allow to settle for 30 minutes before pouring into streilised warmed jars and sealing.
Notes
Be careful not to overcook as it becomes rather toffee-like.
24 Sep 2023
Shirl Seath