Sunday 15 February 2009

Marmalade magic...part 1




'Tis the time of year for marmalade making... well, it was when these shots were taken anyway!  Here are our lovely seville oranges cut up ready for juicing.... they are REALLY bitter at this stage - no wonder marmalade takes quite a lot of sugar! we made two batches - the second of which was the better we feel as it made a firmer set and also a more "old english" flavour. 

Juicing complete, it was time to scrape out the shells then finely shred the peel - that was surprisingly hard work as there was quite a lot to be shredded! The peel goes into the pan with the juice and quite a lot of water - plus a muslin bag which contains the pith and pips, all of which contain lots of the all-important pectin to make the marmalade set. The whole lot get simmered for 2 hours after which the peel should be tender (but still bitter - as I discovered when I had a lip-puckering taste!)

Part two to follow........

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