This weekend I wanted to make use of blood oranges before they disappeared, so I made a bit of marmalade. Some will be given away, but the rest will be stashed.
One thing about jams and marmalades: you'll never be able to make the same batch twice. That's nature, that's variation... some fruits may be sweeter, or juicier, some more tart, some more pithy and bitter. Things will never be exactly the same. In some ways that's too bad, but in other ways it keeps things interesting.
Marmalade is great for eating on toast, with yogurt, or even to serve with a pork roast or maybe turkey (save to doctor cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving?)- in my opinion marmalade is a nice thing to have around.
There are two recipes here, one is basically blood orange (with a bit of lemon), and the other includes four types of citrus. I did some experimentation with amounts and techniques, and I didn't want to lose what I'd done- notes were taken, recipes were written, and now they're posted.
In the photo with two jars of marmalade, you can see a difference in color. The blood orange is obviously the more red one, and the four citrus is more orange.
When I made the blood orange marmalade, I did not end up soaking the peels. It would have made the marmalade less bitter, so it's a good tip for marmalade if you prefer less of that bitterness.
So: after slicing, soak the orange peels for a few hours if you prefer (see the Four Citrus Marmalade recipe below for the how-to on that).
In slicing, you can make the pieces of fruit as thick or thin as you like. Use a mandoline if you would like your oranges very thinly sliced, or perhaps a food processor for the sake of speed. I think mine were between 1 and 3 mm, obviously not exact... but they're hand cut, so we'll call it "rustic" in this instance.
And I'm sorry, but I didn't actually take into account the yield of marmalade in each batch. It'll vary a bit depending on how long it's cooked and allowed to reduce...
However, I'm going to guess two quarts with the blood orange, but it's less with the four citrus.
Blood Orange Marmalade
makes about 2 quarts
3 1/2 lb. (1580 g) blood oranges
2 c (480 ml) water
2/3 c (120 ml) fresh Eureka lemon juice
3 c (675 g) sugar
Place a small plate in the freezer.
Start a large pot of water to boil and place jars and lids in it to sterilize.
Wash the oranges well and cut off the ends to expose the inside. Cut the oranges into quarters and slices the ends of each quarter to remove a bit of extra pith. Thinly slice the oranges, removing any large seeds. Add the pieces of orange as well as any orange juice to a large pot.
Add the water, lemon juice, and sugar to the pot and stir the mixture to combine. Bring the oranges to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peels are cooked, the juice in the marmalade is reduced and it passes a gel test. To test, pull the plate out of the freezer and and place a bit of the cooked marmalade on it. Place the plate back into the freezer for a few minutes to cool it quickly, then check the consistency by pushing it with a finger to see if it wrinkles or is generally thick enough for you.
This takes about an hour and a half (90 minutes).
Drain the hot jars one by one and ladle hot marmalade into them to about a centimeter or 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe the rims and threads with a clean, damp towel, and screw the hot lids on.
At this point I may place the finished jars back into the boiling water for a few minutes to help sterilize further as well as clean the jars of sticky marmalade on the outside.
Leave the jars on a counter to cool to warm, then refrigerate (I don't fully/officially can them, so the fridge in lieu of the pantry is a safety step).
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Four Citrus Marmalade
2 lb. (about 900 g) Cara cara navel oranges
1 lb. (about 450 g) blood oranges
2 Eureka lemons, juiced
1 Meyer lemon
1 1/2 c (360 ml) cold water
2 2/3 c (400 g) sugar
Place a small plate in the freezer.
Start a large pot of water to boil and place jars and lids in it to sterilize.
Wash the citrus well. Juice the navel oranges and slice the peels. Juice the blood oranges and slice 3 of the peels.
Reserve the juices and place the sliced peels into a large pot of cold water. Let soak 3 hours, then remove the soaked peels to a large pot. Add the reserved orange juices, as well as the lemon juice and the sliced Meyer lemon, the water, and sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a simmer over low. Stir occasionally, until the peels are cooked, the juice in the marmalade is reduced and it passes a gel test. To test, pull the plate out of the freezer and and place a bit of the cooked marmalade on it. Place the plate back into the freezer for a few minutes to cool it quickly, then check the consistency by pushing it with a finger to see if it wrinkles or is generally thick enough for you.
This will take at least an hour, perhaps an hour and a half (90 minutes).
Drain the hot jars one by one and ladle hot marmalade into them to about a centimeter or 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe the rims and threads with a clean, damp towel, and screw the hot lids on.
At this point I may place the finished jars back into the boiling water for a few minutes to help sterilize further as well as clean the jars of sticky marmalade on the outside.
Leave the jars on a counter to cool to warm, then refrigerate (I don't fully/officially can them, so the fridge in lieu of the pantry is a safety step).
Share or save to enjoy later...
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