Great Aunt Nell's Seville Orange Marmalade

Got some spare time in the kitchen? Then you should make some marmalade.

If you're a fan of this sweet conserve, I promise it will be worthwhile. It tastes so much better than anything you can buy from the shops. Seville oranges, with their bitter flesh and high pectin content, are renowned for creating the best marmalade, and they're only in season until February. So now's the time to get preserving!

How To Make Seville Orange Marmalade

This is a vintage recipe written by my Great Great Aunt Nell, and she had it from Ethel before her, so it is at least 100 years old. There's nothing like a traditional family recipe!

Here's my modern translation:

Ingredients:
4 Seville Oranges
1 Sweet Orange
1 Lemon
4 pounds Granulated Sugar (I use 3lbs for a more bittersweet taste)
3 pints Water

Wash the fruit and cut it into quarters. With the tip of a sharp knife, or with your fingers if you don't mind getting very sticky, remove all the pips from the segments. If you haven't used Seville oranges before you will notice how they have lots more pips and pith than normal oranges, which is why they are so high in pectin. Place the pips in a bowl and cover with a small amount of water.

Next, finely slice the fruit. I aim for about 1-2mm strips, but you can go chunkier for a quicker marmalade. Place in a large bowl and then cover with the water. 

Cover both bowls with a cloth and then leave overnight.

The next morning, strain the liquid from the pips using a fine sieve or piece of muslin. The pectin soaks out of the pips so the liquid should have become very gelatinous and is what will make your marmalade set. Add this to the bowl of fruit and stir well.

You are then ready to start cooking! If you have a big preserving pan (lucky you!) then you can just put it all in and cook for 2 hours on a medium heat. If, like me, you need to split the mixture then use a ladle to separate the fruit and water into two pans. Just remember when adding the sugar later that you will need to add half to each pan.

After 2 hours, the fruit peel should be soft and you can now add the sugar. Do this at a low heat and stir constantly.

When the liquid becomes translucent and  the crystals have disappeared, you can start to bringing it up to the boil. This is the point where it is most likely to catch at the bottom and burn, so stir and watch carefully. Keep at a steady boil for an hour and a half.

While you're waiting, pop a couple of saucers in the freezer so you can test the marmalade will set. You can tell it is done by putting a small amount on a cold saucer - if it wrinkles slightly when you push it with your fingernail, then it will set. If not, then keep checking the marmalade every 10 minutes until it passes the test.

Sterilise a few jars by washing with hot soapy water and drying them for 10 minutes in the oven. Then pour the marmalade into the jars and seal.

Scrape out what's left and enjoy the results of your hard work on some bread or even straight off the spoon. Nom!