My Orange Marmalade was the result of a few requests from my readers. Besides, I do love making jams and marmalades. They’re simple to make, much less expensive, and they taste SO much better than store bought.
Here we go.
Orange Marmalade
Ingredients: Makes: approximately 3 ½ to 4 half-pint jars
- 4 pounds of Valencia oranges
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups sugar
Directions:
Clean and sterilize your jars. Place two small plates and spoons in the freezer.
Thoroughly wash the oranges to remove any wax and residue. Reserving 4 oranges or so, cut the rest of the oranges in half lengthwise. Cut out the center membrane of each half leaving a notch. Over a bowl with a small strainer, remove the seeds by running your finger down the middle of the groove a few times. Strain the seeds reserving any juice. Place the seeds in a small muslin bag.
Remove the pithy ends of the oranges. Slice each orange half as thinly as possible. Discard any large pithy pieces. Measure the sliced oranges to achieve 4 cups. Juice the remaining oranges to produce 1 cup of juice
Combine the sliced oranges, water, orange and lemon juice, the bag of orange seeds, and sugar in a large, nonreactive pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the rinds are tender and the mixture just begins to thicken. Remove the seed bag, squeezing it a bit to release any juice and discard. Stirring occasionally, continue to simmer the mixture until it begins to coat the back of a spoon and runs off in a sheet instead of a thin stream. Be patient; this may take up to an hour or so.
When the mixture begins to coat the spoon, start checking for doneness. Using the frozen plate and spoon, place a small amount of the jam on the chilled plate. Place the dish back in the refrigerator for 1 minute. Tilt the plate to check for jelling, if it stays put or hardly moves you’re good. One final test I do is to run my finger through the mixture, if it forms a firm line and crinkles a bit on the sides, it’s done. If neither happens, clean the plate and spoon and place them back in the freezer and repeat this process every few minutes until you’ve reached a proper level of jelling/thickness.
Using a canning funnel, ladle the hot orange marmalade into the clean sterilized jars leaving ¼″ headspace. Wipe the rims clean, attach the lids, label, date, and store the marmalade in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or freeze in freezer jars for up to a year. When frozen, thaw in refrigerator for 24 hours before use.
Notes: Valencia or Saville orange are the best oranges to use when making homemade orange marmalade because they are thin skinned with less pith and quite juicy. You can use other oranges, but the thicker pith makes for a slightly bitter marmalade. If you like that, then have at it. Why use the seeds? The seeds provide the natural pectin needed to set the marmalade. Obviously, you can double the recipe if desired. The same method can be used to make any citrus marmalade. You may need to increase or decrease the sugar if the citrus is sweeter or more tart. For something different, a combination of lemons and oranges can be fun too.
I’m looking forward to spreading this wonderful sweet goodness on my soon to be shared homemade English scones. They will be a perfect match; don’t you think?
After I’ve frozen my stash, not to be greedy, I’ll box up a few jars to give to my friend who happens to LOVE Orange Marmalade.
Time to eat…
If you enjoyed my “Orange Marmalade,” check out my Meyer Lemon Marmalade, Freezer Plum Jam, Homemade Raspberry or Blackberry Jam, or my Fresh Fig Jam. Enjoy.
P.S. Take a moment to check out and purchase some of the tools I used for this “Orange Marmalade” below. 🙂