Marmalade time!

[subcontrabass]

Flosshilde, thanks for your suggeston of using lemons to add tartness and pectin. I'll have to find a recipe and give it a try. When I was young, I read some of CS Lewis's children's books and awas always intrgued by the description of "a gloriously sticky maramlade roll." I hadn't (and still haven't) any idea what this was. What is a marmalade roll? It seems quite delicious.

Two possibilities come to mind. One is a like a jam roly-poly, with marmalade substituted for the jam. The other is like this: http://www.familynet.com/judiebyrd/r...php?recipe=230 .

As an alternative you could splash out on a copy of The Narnia Cookbook. It seems only to be available secondhand and at ridiculous prices.

[Chris Newman]

Iain, you obviously have a very sweet tooth. Ouch!!

I still hunt in vain for my Michael Tippett recipe but here is my own which is adapted from several recipes and is for a dark and fairly strong marmalade. Personally I like mine with thick chunky peel



Ingredients
•Makes about 10 x 1lb jars
•1.5kg (3 and a half lbs) Seville oranges
•2.5kg (5 and a half pounds) sugar (I like 50:50 brown and white which makes it strong and dark. Plain white sugar gives you the ordinary marmalade) Some people use jam sugar as it contains pectin but if you collect the pips, pith and flesh in a muslin bag and later boil ordinary sugar with the cooked peel it thickens beautifully.
•Juice of 2 lemons (I include the bits, peel etc in the pectin bag)
•3 litres water



Method
1.Wash and halve the oranges and lemons. With a spoon scoop out the flesh, pips and pith and reserve in a muslin cloth with the lemon peel if you are a purist. Tie up the cloth and squeeze any juice into the pan in which you are boiling the marmalade.

2.Slice orange peel as you like it: fine cut or thick.

3.Put water in a preserving pan with the orange peel and the muslin bag. Note: adding the bag is important because the pectin in the seeds and pith helps the marmalade to set.

4.Simmer gently for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until only half the liquid remains and the orange peel is soft. Throughout the simmer occasionally remove any scum with a tea spoon and try to avoid eating it

5.Remove the bag and add sugar stirring well. Heat gently stirring all the time until sugar is slowly dissolved.

6.Turn up heat and boil the marmalade rapidly for 15 minutes. Then test your set:

Use a saucer you have put earlier in the freezer to cool. When the marmalade appears ready take the cold saucer out of the freezer and put about 1/2 teaspoon of marmalade on to the plate. Allow the marmalade to cool then with your finger push the marmalade: if the surface wrinkles, you've got a fine set. If not, put the saucer back in the freezer, continue the boil for a further 5 minutes and test again.

7.If the set is OK let the marmalade cool and remove any remaining scum from the top. Leave to settle for 20 minutes and then stir, to prevent the orange peel from rise to the top of the jars during settings.

8.Pot carefully in hot, sterilised jars and cover.


You might like to add a tot of whisky to some of the last jars by stirring it into the cooked marmalade before bottling.

[Ferretfancy]

The ten pounds of sugar seems a bit excessive for me, but perhaps that addresses a sweet preference. I think that Seville oranges marmalade should have a properly bitter tang to it. For a marmalade that can be made at any time of the year, the three fruit variety with oranges, lemons and a grapefruit makes a very nice alternative, but it's more of a fiddle to do. Recipe if requested!

[Flosshilde]

I'll go with that, thank you.

3lbs of oranges and 10lbs of sugar???? I thought it would be the other way round. 10lbs of sugar?

Remember the oranges are very bitter, although I think that Curalach's recipe does overdo it a bit - the standard ratio is 1 part oranges to 2 parts sugar & 2 parts water - so for 3 lbs oranges you'd use 6 lbs sugar & 6 pints of water (plus 3 lemons for the pectin)

[Flosshilde]

Marthe, I'd assume a marmalade roll would just be a bread roll cut open and spread with (butter and) marmalade, ideally the roll still warm from the oven.

It could be a marmalade version of a jam roly-poly - a sweet shortcrust pastry rolled out, jam spread over it & then rolled up like a swiss roll & baked (apologies if you already knew that ). & Bird's custard is totally acceptable with it! Good nursery (& gentlemen's club) food.


oops - hadn't seen the next message from subcontrabass before I posted the above

I would add to Chris' recipe - soak the oranges, pips etc in the water overnight - it helps get the pectin out (if you put the pips in a small bowl witrh water by the next morning they'll be almost set in a jelly); and I cook the oranges befor chopping the peel up. That way I can make sure the peel is properly cooked - it needs to be quite soft as it becomes like candied peel when you add the sugar; if it's still a bit al dente it will be a bit too tough when the marmalade's made.

[Ferretfancy]

Chris Newman

Your version is very similar to mine, except that I use a pyrex bowl in my microwave. I just put the pips in a muslin bag and boil for the pectin. The oranges are juiced and cut up,flesh, pith and all, and the pith dissolves while cooking. This is really a version of Delia's method, but not cooked on the hob.

[marthe]

Subcontrabass, Thank you for the recipe link. A Narnia cookbook! Somehow I'm not surprised.

[Anna]

There was a suggestion upthread for using mamalade in bread and butter pudding, even better if you used Panettone instead of ordinary bread.

Also, stir-fry shredded sprouts and add a good tablespoon of marmalade - absolutely gorgeous!

[Don Petter]

I'll go with that, thank you.

3lbs of oranges and 10lbs of sugar???? I thought it would be the other way round. 10lbs of sugar?

Looks about right. My Radiation Cookery Book (Not nuclear – published by ‘Radiation’ cookers in 1950, in its 38th edition, so it must have been getting something right) gives 2lbs of Seville oranges with 6 lbs of sugar. So a ratio of three to one, and they didn’t waste sugar in 1950!

The general advice for adding sugar was to weigh the pulp after the first boiling and add 1lb of sugar for each 1lb of pulp for ordinary marmalade, or 1.5 lbs of sugar for lemon marmalade.

[subcontrabass]

Looks about right. My Radiation Cookery Book (Not nuclear – published by ‘Radiation’ cookers in 1950, in its 38th edition, so it must have been getting something right) gives 2lbs of Seville oranges with 6 lbs of sugar. So a ratio of three to one, and they didn’t waste sugar in 1950!

The general advice for adding sugar was to weigh the pulp after the first boiling and add 1lb of sugar for each 1lb of pulp for ordinary marmalade, or 1.5 lbs of sugar for lemon marmalade.

It was the same in the 21st Edition (1938) [I still have the copy used by my late mother]: 2lbs Seville Oranges, 2 Lemons, 7 pints water, 6 lbs sugar.

[french frank]

It was the same in the 21st Edition (1938) [I still have the copy used by my late mother]: 2lbs Seville Oranges, 2 Lemons, 7 pints water, 6 lbs sugar.

Beautiful! I bought a kilo of oranges and two lemons . So I should need about 10 jars ...

I'll give it a go on Saturday. If I don't mention how I got on, please don't ask

[Don Petter]

It was the same in the 21st Edition (1938) [I still have the copy used by my late mother]: 2lbs Seville Oranges, 2 Lemons, 7 pints water, 6 lbs sugar.

Now this is how false information gets disseminated over the internet. According to my copy, the 21st edition wasn't published until August 1939?

Glad to know we're both working from the same script - the old ones are the best.

[subcontrabass]

Now this is how false information gets disseminated over the internet. According to my copy, the 21st edition wasn't published until August 1939?

Glad to know we're both working from the same script - the old ones are the best.

You are correct - August 1939. Time for new glasses.

[Curalach]

Beautiful! I bought a kilo of oranges and two lemons . So I should need about 10 jars ...

I'll give it a go on Saturday. If I don't mention how I got on, please don't ask

Go for it ff. If I can do it, anyone can.

[Don Petter]

Beautiful! I bought a kilo of oranges and two lemons . So I should need about 10 jars ...

Yes. Best to get in the right mood first!