Seville oranges are in season, and if you want to celebrate them with a bit of marmalade creation you’ll need to get on with it as they’ll disappear from the shops by the end of February.
If you’ve not got time to make it now, you could always pop a bag of them in the freezer and do it later.
However I love the ritual of making marmalade at this time of year. The cleansing aromas of sharp citrus feel to me like they’re seeing off any germs or negativity that might be lurking in the house.
It’s also the methodical nature of the preparation of the oranges themselves that can be infinitely soothing. Juicing, scraping, blitzing and finishing with the fine slicing of the peel. Perfect with a spot of Radio 4 on in the background.
You can find the recipe I use along with a step by step guide here: Seville Orange Marmalade
The only difference with this batch was that I added a splash of cointreau to the bottom of each jar before filling it with marmalade. You could add any spirit you fancied or have leftover from Christmas.
I’d also like to point out that the setting gods were not on my side and my first attempt was decidedly watery in consistency. I had hoped it might thicken up once in the jars, but sadly this wasn’t the case.
What happens if my marmalade doesn’t set?
Well I decided to tip it all out of the jars, add a bit more sugar, stir it in until dissolved and boil it up again. Bingo! This time setting point kicked in and I was rewarded with lovely marmalade. What a relief!
This recipe is about as seasonal as you can get, so i’ll be submitting it to Ren Behan’s Simple and in Season event.
I am doing mine today. Have soaked the rind overnight and will boil up today. I love your tip about re-boiling if the set isn’t right. This is something that often happens to me and there isn’t always a good reason why it happens! Yours looks perfect and I hope mine turns out ok too 🙂
Lovely post and photos x Iwith the recipe , reduce the weight of the contents of the pan down to 1.4kg before adding the sugar. That should help to get a set first time around
Great advice – thanks Viv!
May the setting gods be on your side Laura!
Oh how I have wanted to make some seville orange preserve but our fridge is heaving with preserves already and hubby will go bonkers for another. I might sneak in the making for a friend though/ I like this version and also Laura’s cardamom version.
I try and give as much away as possible and then keep a secret stash in my preserves archive in the shed 🙂 cardamom sounds good!
Gorgeous! I have Cointreau, but not oranges! Will pop some onto the shopping list. Thank you so much for entering Simple and in Season with this lovely homemade produce x
Thanks Ren – it’s a great flavour combo so i’d def recommend it 🙂
I really really want to make marmalade, but Ed went Marmalade mad a few years ago and we are still eating it. No room in the cupboard.
It does get a bit preserve-tastic doesn’t it. I try and give loads away and keep a little archive of jars in the shed 🙂