Sunday 5 February 2017

Marmalade

What do you like to spread on your toast at breakfast time?
In my kitchen there's usually a selection of spreads to choose from: peanut butter, strawberry jam, honey, even that good old British standby Marmite, but my favourite is Marmalade.
But not that sweet sickly stuff that's lined up on the local supermarket shelves. I like my marmalade bitter with a tang of citrus, something with a punch to make sure I'm fully awake. And the only way to get it is to make it myself.

The bitter and rather ugly Seville oranges are only available at this time of year. I usually have to try 2 or 3 grocery stores before I find them, but this year they were in the first store I went to. Bonus! Teamed with a couple of lemons and sweet oranges, Marmalade Day 2017 got started.


Squeeze out the juice, separate the pulp and the pips, and cut the peel into thin strips. The pulp and the pips can be soaked and boiled to extract the pectin. For every cup of peel and juice, 2 cups of water was added, and then left to soak in my "jam bucket" overnight and then cooked until soft. Then sugar was added, and more cooking for at least 30 minutes until the marmalade reaches a jelly consistency.
Then it's poured into hot jars and we wait to see if it will gell. Even if it doesn't, it will taste yummy! Making marmalade is a pretty labour intensive process, but worth it IMHO!

The end result: enough marmalade to keep me and my family happy at breakfast for a long time. (Actually, the family doesn't like it as much as I do, so perhaps this is all for me!!!!!)

18 comments:

  1. Looks delicious but labour intensive!

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  2. Homemade marmalade is VASTLY superior to the store - bought stuff. We treat jars of the homemade stuff with great respect! Well done! Looks like you've made a good supply!

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  3. Olive-oil based margarine & blackberry preserves. :-)

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  4. Looks lovely and reminded me that my mother-in-law made marmalade too. Homemade is always best.

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  5. I never eat toast for breakfast. I do sometimes have a slice in the evening, but I prefer it with just butter. My partner loves the fine-cut marmalade, but I don't like it at all. It's too sharp for my sweet tooth!

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  6. A very dear friend of our family and indeed of half the world it seemed made the best marmalade ever. Unfortunately she was taken from us in an allergic reaction to a standard hospital procedure and took her recipes with her. I love marmalade and yours looks so good. I do not know if Seville oranges are available in our local shops or not. Can ordinary be substituted? Can one add grapefruit peel?

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  7. Hello,Shamic,
    Looks delicious! Are you kidding? Those marmalade are all for you?? Please send me just a couple of them!I like marmalade.

    Thank you for your comment. There are many temples and shrines here in Japan.
    We enjoy visiting there so often without special purposes.
    Have a good day!

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  8. The marmalade looks delicious!
    Thanks for the recipe, I will try someday...
    The colour of the marmalade is gorgeous.

    Thanks for you visit and nice comment on "my" sunset.
    Wishing you a lovely week ahead. :)

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  9. You are quite the cook! I cannot stand marmalade, but I'm glad that you like it and others like it and that you make it and I hope that everyone you know will enjoy it.

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  10. That's a pretty tangy marmalade Shammi ☺ I got all carried away once and made strawberry jam, it was so much tastier than bought!
    P.s. you always make me smile when you say 'next time I'm in Perth...' 😊

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  11. It looks and sounds delicious! Remember, if you share you only get half as much!

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  12. Oh Wow!! Looks sooooooo good. I LOVE marmalade on a piece of crunchy toast. Oh, wish we close, I'd swap you some green tomato salsa or pickles for a marmalade!!! Enjoy every taste :)

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  13. That would taste great on a piece of toast with some margarine.

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  14. Looks yummy! And so much work - but well worth the effort, I'm sure. I usually eat blackberry preserves, but I also like a ginger marmalade we have here in our grocery stores. Don't think I've ever eaten home made marmalade.

    Enjoy!

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  15. I never made marmalade, it looks so beautiful in the jars! It is so much better to make your own than commercial bought.

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  16. I've just made marmalade too. I like to use partly brown soft sugar. I tried a new method this year, you boil em up before slicing them. I don't know why it seems easier but it does. And it gives a lovely texture.

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  17. It's fun being creative in every way, including mixing bits of fruit and a bit of sweetener to create something you love. I have to admit though, that even the store bought marmalade is a bit too bitter for me, so while I would completely appreciate the work you went though making this, I'm afraid it'd be much too tart for my toast.

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