Orange marmalade

The time when many of us make jams and marmalades from our home-grown fruit is over, but that doesn’t mean you should not experience and try making jams from fruits that aren’t so common! Right now, the prices of oranges in stores are falling, so now it is the right time to use oranges to make marmalades. Right? Homemade jams are perfect for Christmas cookies and for other sweets of course.

Basic orange marmalade

All you need is oranges and sugar. Just make sure that oranges are really ripe (if not, let them ripen at home).You will need about 2.5 kg of oranges. Peel them well. Use a vegetable peeler to get as much the orange-coloured peel off as possible. Leave as little as possible of the white part of the peel. You do not want that as it is bitter. Now, cut the peeled skin into thin strips.

Photo: Pixabay

Preparation of orange pulp

Now you need to prepare the flesh. Get the well-peeled wedges and get the pulp out of the thin membrane.You cannot have any membrane in the pot where you cook the marmalade. . Just the peeled pulp. If there is some pulp left on the membrane and you cannot get it off, squeeze as much juice as possible into the pot. Also remove any seeds.

Cooking

Put 1,350 g of gelling sugar to the pot, add the prepared peel and 600 ml of waterand the orange pulp. Heat on the stove and stir until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring. Cook for about 30 minutes. You need to test the thickness of the marmalade by putting a little amount on a cold plate. If you are satisfied with the thickness (the marmalade does not run down the plate after cooling), you can fill glasses with the marmalade. Close lids tightly and turn the glasses upside down and let them cool down.

Orange marmalade with kumquats

Another great marmalade is orange with kumquats.To make orange and kumquat marmalade you need 500g of kumquats, 1 medium-sized orange, 450g of gelling sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Wash kumquats well, remove the stems and split them in half. Remove all seeds and cut the fruit into pieces. Now, you peel the orange and remove the pulp and seeds as in the previous recipe. Blend the orange pulp with the kumquats into a puree. Measure how much puree you have and add the same amount of sugar (for two cups of puree, add two cups of gelling sugar). Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves. Keep cooking until the mixture thickens. Once you reach the desired thickness add lemon juice and stop cooking. Fill glasses with the hot marmalade, cover tightly with lids, turn them upside down and let them cool.

Preview photo: Pixabay