Orange Marmalade
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Orange Marmalade. Who knew making marmalade was this easy? This version adds a little natural vanilla flavour in what might me the best marmalade you'll ever try.
Originally published Jan, 2016.
Orange marmalade is one of those things that has distinct camps of fans and definite non-fans. I've never met a person who was on the fence about marmalade; it seems you either love it or leave it alone.
Spouse and I sit firmly in the "love it" camp. It's one of those things that's always on hand in the fridge for morning toast. We've always bought a good quality brand and occasionally bought a few fancy English brands when we saw them.
Orange Marmalade. Not so difficult after all.
To be honest, I'd always assumed that it was a fiddly thing, and quite fussy to make and successfully get it to set.
How wrong I was. With only 4 ingredients and a little patience in soaking the sliced citrus overnight, it proved to be much much easier than I thought.
I also thought that I'd have to add pectin to the recipe but it turns out that all the natural pectin necessary to get a form marmalade is already in those peels.
The result, plus give it as gifts.
Spouse and I absolutely loved this marmalade. The addition of the vanilla was delicious too but you want to be careful here, too much vanilla can really be too much.
I used just a small vanilla pod in this recipe and might even use ½ a pod nest time to see if I like that better. If you have very large vanilla pods, use no more than about a 4 inch section of the pod.
Although the Christmas season is just behind us, I plan on having batch or two on hand for next year to give as gifts and as host presents when we are invited out. Marmalade this good is something I myself would be very happy to receive.
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Orange Marmalade
Orange Marmalade - who knew making marmalade was this easy? This version adds a little natural vanilla flavour in what might me the best marmalade you'll ever try.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of oranges (6 to 8 large oranges, weighing them is the best) way of measuring) Choose oranges that are neither too thick or too thin skinned
- 8 cups water
- 8 cups sugar
- 1 small vanilla pod, or a 3-4 inch section of a large vanilla pod
Instructions
- Whether you are using organic oranges or not, wash the oranges very well before using them.
- Cut each orange into quarters, then slice the quarters into very thin slices.
- Add the slices to the water along with the sugar in a large pot or dutch oven. (Use only stainless steel or ceramic lined pots. The acid in the citrus fruit will react with aluminum.)
- Slowly bring the mixture to a slow boil, ensuring that the sugar is fully dissolved, then remove from the heat and cover the pot.
- Leave the mixture in the pot at room temperature overnight.
- Next day, add the vanilla pod, which you have split lengthwise and scraped out the seed paste inside. Add the pod and seeds to the pot.
- Slowly bring the pot to a slow rolling boil for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- After 2 hours, increase the heat to about medium and begin to take the temperature of the marmalade. You want to take the mixture to between 220 and 225 degrees F on a candy thermometer. This is the temperature needed for the pectin to set.
- Remove the marmalade from the heat and let it cool before adding it to sterilized mason jars and processing in a water bath to ensure a good seal on the jars as instructed by the bottle manufacturer.
- Store in a cool dark place.
Notes
You can mix some citrus flavours in this recipe as well. After Christmas I had a few clementines and lemons left over, so I used 4 oranges, 2 lemons and 4 clementines in the recipe and it was very, very good too.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
133Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 52Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 0gSugar 13gProtein 0g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Fortunately, I have a source of Seville oranges. If I use these instead of "oranges", will I need to make any adjustments to the amount of sugar?
Thanks!
I wouldn't think so.
Have you made it without the vanilla? I like the looks of the recipe, but woud rather not add vanilla to it.
perfectly fine to omit vanilla.
Love your recipe. Best one I've found.
Could you clarify the amount of vanilla bean?
What is a 3-4 section? Does that mean three-fourths of a large pod?
Also, 1 inch pod OR a 3-4 (3/4) section of a large pod does not seem
equivalent.
Thank you
Our new recipe software went a bit wonky on that one. It's fixed now.
I tried this recipe twice and it didn't set either time, feeling discouraged!
I bought Seville oranges and did exactly what recipe said. When I got to the final boiling stage, it seemed to go to 220 degrees right away so I only boiled it maybe 10 minutes...is that the problem, should I boil 30 minutes at least?
It might be the type of oranges has a lower amount of natural pectin. It is salvageable if you buy pectin and add it according to the instructions.
Do you use just the peel of the orange or the whole thing? TY
You use the whole orange.
This has been my favorite marmalade for 3 years now. The 2 times I’ve made it before I let the oranges sit in the sugar / water bath for 20-24 hours before cooking for the 2 hours. This year I let it sit for about 11 hours and I noticed a huge difference in the bitterness of the finished product. I didn’t change anything else from what I’ve done before so I must assume the bitterness was due to the length it sat. I just remade it, let it sit for 20 hours and it’s much better. Not sure if you’ve noticed this as well or if there’s a time you recommend letting it sit overnight?
I'd say it is more likely to be the type of oranges.
I'm trying this tonight, I love to make jams, jellies, preserves & chutneys. You don't say how many cups of fruit you need. 6 large oranges isn't real precise, however I went with the rule that you use cups of fruit equal to cups of sugar & I hope that works!
Barry, I tried your suggestion of mixed oranges, lemons and clementines and I too had a problem with the jam not setting. I had to bring the jam to a boil this morning again and add liquid pectin as directed by the pectin company. I even added a pink grapefruit as that is what my grandmother from Change Islands, NL area did to use up left over citrus fruit. Could the pouring rain outside be a factor for natural fruit pectin not setting up properly? It been raining for days so the humidity is extremely high here lately.
I used to be able to buy lemon marmalade here, but no longer! Can I use this recipe using just lemons?