BLOOD ORANGE MARMALADE Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in marmalade? ›

Pectin is key

“Mandarin marmalade is harder to make; mandarins don't have as much pectin. Lemons are really good. A lemon and ginger marmalade's a really nice one to make, lots of pectin, so that one will set easily.

Reducing the sugar in the recipe means a slacker, not set consistency and the marmalade could have a shorter shelf life.

If you use oranges with the peel, and you want to eliminate the bitterness, prick them with a fork and soak them for three days in a pot full of water, which you will change every day. In this way the oranges will lose the bitter part that many do not like.

Tie the muslin square into a little bag and add it to the bowl. Make sure everything is immersed in the water. Leave to soak overnight or for several hours if possible. This helps to extract pectin from the fruit and soften the peel, which will reduce the amount of cooking.

Caster sugar is the one to avoid. The crystals are too fine, which is great for baking but they will dissolve too quickly when making marmalade. Granulated sugar is a good choice. The large crystals will dissolve quickly and cleanly, resulting in a clear, amber liquid that best shows off your perfectly floating peel.

What's the ratio of sugar to fruit in marmalade? Because of the tartness of a Seville orange, the ratio of sugar to fruit in marmalade is 2:1.

Too often the weights of fruit and sugar are unbalanced, for example listing equal quantities of fruit and sugar. The volume of water is often insufficient to soften the peel before adding the sugar. The type and method used with a muslin bag fails frequently to release enough pectin, crucial when making marmalade.

Lemons contain a very high amount of pectin, which naturally sets and thickens the marmalade.

Adding acid in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice is important for two reasons: First, it makes for a more well-balanced jam, returning some of the acidity lost with the addition of sugar. Second, pectin needs acid to properly activate, or firm up.

What happens if you boil marmalade too long? ›

If you cook it for too long at a high temperature, the natural pectin breaks down and no longer acts as a setting agent and the sugar polymerises into toffee. The way to make any set jam or marmalade is to simmer the fruit gently until it develops your desired level of softness.

Push the marmalade along the plate with your finger. If setting point has been reached then the marmalade surface will wrinkle slightly and the marmalade won't run back straight away. If it's not at setting point, return to the heat and boil again for 2 mins before re-testing. Repeat until setting point is reached.

Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover and let simmer an additional 15 minutes or until citrus is very soft, stirring occasionally. Raise heat and mixture to a boil. Add sugar to citrus mixture and mix until well combined.

too much headspace, or bubbles left in the jam before processing; not enough liquid to cover bits of food/fruit; or. not enough processing time.

Baking soda is slightly alkaline and helps to break down the peels, shortening the time it takes to cook and soften them. You do not have to use it to make good marmalade, but it helps shorten the cooking process.

To prevent scum forming on the top of your jam, add a knob of butter to your fruit at the same time as you add the sugar, we recommend 20 grams per 1 kilogram of fruit. Note: Scum is nothing sinister, it is only air bubbles that are created during the cooking process, they will not ruin your jam/marmalade if they form.

Citric acid is added to jams to lower the acidity and enable gel formation, especially in products with high carotenoid content. The role of citric acid in jam is to increase the stability of cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) and enhance its antioxidant capacity.