In response to overwhelming demand on Twitter (well, Mark Valencia), here’s my recipe for Seville Marmalade.
Ingredients for around 4-5 jars (depending on size)
500g Seville oranges
1 lemon
1kg golden caster sugar
1 piece of muslin
1. Put a sieve over a preserving pan or other very large, non-aluminium pan. I use a ceramic casserole. It’s important to leave enough room in the pan to allow the marmalade to bubble without boiling over. Cut the oranges and lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the pan, using the sieve to catch any pips and pith.
2. Put your piece of muslin into a bowl and spoon the pips and pith into it. Cut the peel of the oranges to the desired thickness, tearing off any large pieces of remaining flesh and adding them to the muslin as you go. Put the shredded peel into the pan (any remaining flesh will dissolve during cooking) and tie the muslin bag up tightly and add that too. Pour over 1.25l of water, bring to the boil and then simmer gently for 1 hour. The peel should be soft.
3. Remove the muslin bag and allow to cool in a bowl. It needs to be cold enough to squeeze, so unless you have heatproof gloves, you can leave the marmalade to sit overnight at this point if you want to. Wash your jars in warm soapy water and allow to dry in a cool oven before you embark on the next step.
4. Bring the marmalade back to a simmer, and squeeze the muslin bag hard into it – a good quantity of gloopy juice should come out. Stir this in and then add the sugars and stir well until dissolved. Put a few saucers into the freezer.
5. Turn the heat up and boil rapidly until the marmalade reaches setting point – I find it takes about 25 minutes but a sugar thermometer will be helpful here (start checking when it reaches 104C). To confirm this, put a teaspoonful of the marmalade on to a cold saucer and put in the fridge for a minute or so. If it crinkles when you run a finger through it, and your finger leaves a clear line in the preserve, it’s ready. If not, check it every five minutes or so.
6. Spoon into clean jars and seal immediately.
