Darina Allen: Three recipes for homemade marmalade including one made in minutes

Marmalade is an intensely personal taste, some like it fresh tasting, others prefer bittersweet.

Spain exports most of its Seville and Malaga oranges to the UK and Ireland for marmalade lovers like me. The season is short, from mid-December to the end of February, so if you want to make your very own favourite marmalade, you’ll need to dash to the shops to secure your supply. Buy more than you need, if at all possible, just throw them into the freezer whole (they freeze brilliantly) so you can make whole orange marmalade at any time of the year.

Marmalade is an intensely personal taste, some like it fresh tasting, others prefer bittersweet.

Seville orange marmalade is the real deal, the classic, made famous by our beloved Paddington Bear. You can do lots of riffs on it by adding whiskey, treacle, or ginger … It’s stronger, tangier than preserves made with other citrus.

Nonetheless, I also make properly delicious marmalade with grapefruit, Amalfi lemons, blood oranges (also in season now), bergamot and clementines, mandarins, tangerines and of course kumquats, the baby of the citrus fruit family which makes one of the most delicious preserves of all. I love to serve it with a pan-grilled duck breast or a burrata and rocket salad.

Most, though not all, marmalades are made over a two-day period.

Juice and squeeze the oranges (buy organic if you can. Seville oranges tend to be unwaxed but give the others a good scrub first to remove the food-grade wax, pesticide residues, dust, and bacteria acquired during the transportation process on the rind.

Slice the orange peel thickly or thinner, depending on your preference. Collect the pips and scoop out into a muslin bag with the membrane (essential for
pectin). Leave to steep with the peel in the water and juice overnight.

Next day, cook for ages until the peel is tender. Heat the sugar but be careful not to add until the peel is really soft and the liquid has reduced to between one-third and half of its original volume.

If the sugar is added too early, it has a hardening effect on the peel, resulting in a chewy texture which no amount of boiling will soften … So disappointing, after all your hard work.

I know it doesn’t “float everyone’s boat” but I love slicing the peel by hand, I make it into a Zen-like practice, brew a cup of coffee, turn on a little soothing music, pop onto a high chair and enjoy the process.

Of course, one could just put into a blender but for me, the result is sludgy and much less appealing. It’s your choice, it will depend on your preference, and of course, time.

If you really are a marmalade nerd, think about entering a pot into the Marmalade Awards before February 3 — check out dalemain.com for more.

For those who love a really fresh tasting marmalade and/or if you are short of time, try this no cook marmalade, made in minutes, store it in the fridge and it’ll keep for at least three weeks.

There are lots more marmalade recipes in my Forgotten Skills and Ballymaloe Cookery Course cookbooks, published by Kyle Books.

Old-Fashioned Seville orange marmalade

recipe by:Darina Allen

Seville and Malaga oranges come into the shops after Christmas every year and are around for just 4 - 5 weeks so get cracking. This makes approx. 3.2kg

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 2 hours 10 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 25 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 900g (2lbs) of Seville oranges, organic if possible

• 2.3 litres (4 pints) water

• 1 organic lemon

• 1.45kg (3 1/4lbs) granulated sugar

Method

1. Wash the fruit, cut in half and squeeze out the juice. Remove the membrane with a spoon, put with the pips and tie them in a piece of muslin. Slice the peel finely or coarsely, depending on how you like your marmalade. Put the peel, orange and lemon juice, bag of pips and water into a non-reactive bowl or saucepan overnight.

2. Next day, bring everything to the boil. Cover and simmer gently for about 1 1/2 hours until the peel is really soft. Then cook uncovered until the liquid is reduced to between 1/3 - 1/2 of the original volume (30 minutes approx.). Squeeze all the liquid from the bag of pips and remove it.

3. Add the warmed sugar and stir until all the sugar has been dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a full rolling boil rapidly until setting point is reached 5-10 minutes approx. Test for a set, either with a sugar thermometer (it should register 104˚C/220˚F), or with a saucer. Put a little marmalade on a cold saucer and cool for a few minutes. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it's done.

4. Allow marmalade to sit in the saucepan for 15 minutes before bottling to prevent the peel from floating. Pot into hot sterilized jars. Cover immediately and store in a cool dry dark place.

5. Note: The peel must be absolutely soft before the sugar is added, otherwise when the sugar is added it will toughen the peel and no amount of boiling will soften it.

Seville whole orange marmalade

recipe by:Darina Allen

A wide, low-sided stainless steel saucepan is best for this recipe, say 35.5 x 40.5cm wide. If you don’t have one roughly that size, cook the marmalade in two batches.

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 2.2kg Seville or Malaga oranges (organic if possible)

• 5.1 litres water

• 3.6kg sugar

Method

1. Wash the oranges. Put them, whole, in a stainless steel saucepan with the water.

2. Put a plate on top to keep them under the surface of the water. Cover with the lid of the saucepan, simmer gently until soft, roughly two hours.

3. Cool and then drain, reserving the water. (If more convenient, leave overnight and continue next day.)

4. Put your chopping board onto a large baking tray with sides so you won’t lose any juice.

5. Cut the oranges in half and scoop out the soft centre. Slice the peel finely. Put the pips into a muslin bag.

6. Put the escaped juice, sliced oranges, and the muslin bag of pips in a large, wide stainless steel saucepan with the reserved marmalade liquid.

7. Bring to the boil, reduce by half or better still, two-thirds, add the warm sugar, and stir over a brisk heat until all the sugar is dissolved.

8. Boil fast until setting point is reached. Pot in sterilised jars and cover at once. Store in a dark, airy cupboard.

No cook marmalade

recipe by:Darina Allen

Use organic fruit for this recipe. A super delicious, fresh tasting marmalade, made in minutes.

Servings

12

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• Makes 12 x 175ml jam jars

• 1.8kg fruit (5 oranges, 1 lemon, and 1 grapefruit)

• 1.25kg granulated sugar

Method

1. Wash the fruit and cut into roughly 2.5-4cm chunks. Remove the pips where possible. Divide the fruit and sugar evenly into three batches. Put one batch at a time into a Magimix, pulse and whizz.

2. Pour into cold, sterilised jars and cover immediately. Taste, add a little more sugar if necessary. Store in a refrigerator and enjoy as soon as possible while fresh.

Seasonal journal

Knockdrinna Farmhouse cheesemaking

Always wanted to make your own homemade cheese?

On this one day course, Helen Finnegan of Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese will take the mystery out of cheesemaking. The course is designed to show you how to make and mature your own cheese at home. Learn the basics of cheesemaking, the history of cheese, and how it developed as the food it is today.

A cheese tasting lunch with wine is included. Takes place on the last Saturday of the month located in Stoneyford, Co Kilkenny.

knockdrinna.com

For information, contact Helen on 086 859 7716

Grumpy Bakers, Midleton

How fortunate are we that so many artisan bakers around the country are prepared to get up super early so we have freshly-baked sourdough and croissants for breakfast?

Check out The Grumpy Bakers new location on 58 Main St in Midleton, where they make a variety of natural, slow-fermented sourdough bread and handmade seasonal pastries.

Open Wednesday-Sunday from 8.30am-4pm.

thegrumpybakers.ie