Chunky orange marmalade

Difficulty 2/5

When life gives you oranges… make marmalade! Literally life gave me lots of oranges (in the form of my neighbour’s tree dropping them on my side of the wall), and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make an amazing, chunky marmalade and show you how to deal with citruses and getting the most flavour out of them. Usually, you get more of an orange jam rather than a proper marmalade, made with orange juice and really light. This one, however is made with both the pulp AND the skin, treated in such a way that it’s not bitter at all but rather soft and sweet. It takes more work, that’s correct, but it’s sooo worth it! Eat it with toasts, cheese, cocktails, anything your heart desires. Or, change the fruit to another citrus and repeat 🙂 I hope you love it as much as I do!

P.D. It makes a great gift

Portions: 250g of marmalade

Ingredients:
– 20 oranges
– 250g sugar
– 250ml water
– optional: lemon juice

Procedure:
1. Grate the outside skin using the thick side of the grater. Usually I ask you to use the thin one, but this time we want to feel the chunks. Make sure you only grate the orange skin, the white pith is really bitter. Isn’t it an amazing colour?

2. Add enough cold water to cover them and bring them to a boil. Pass through a sieve and repeat 2 more times. This is the part that removes any bitterness from the skin.

3. In the meantime, peel the orange it using a knife, cutting the top and bottom off and then going from top to bottom cutting off the skin following the shape of the orange.

3. Then take out each segment of pulp cutting at each side of the membrane, leaving it behind. Squeeze whatever is left in the skin and keep the juice.

4. Mix the segments, juice and grated zest with the sugar and water, and bring to a boil. Cook to 104C. It will take a while for it to go over 100C, which happens when it’s concentrated enough so that the liquid’s boiling point increases.
5. At this point let it cool completely and assess the result. This will vary according to the taste and nature of your oranges. Here go some troubleshooting:
– Too sweet: correct with lemon juice
– Too thick: add a drizzle at a time of hot water until it reaches the desired thickness. Let cool completely again before assessing if it needs more water. Or if it’s also too sweet, add lemon juice instead, or a mix of juice and water.
– Too thin: unlikely, but boil it more so the liquid evaporates.
– Too sour: It’s a lot of sugar so this shouldn’t be a problem, but if your oranges are particularly sour, you can dissolve sugar in a bit of water on the stove and then mix with the marmalade.

Now you have an amazing marmalade to eat at home with your appetizers, breakfast or maybe just a spoonful? You’ll love the chunkyness of it, it’s full of flavour and texture. It will certainly amaze you.