A recipe for easy homemade marmalade (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in marmalade? ›

Pectin is key

“Mandarin marmalade is harder to make; mandarins don't have as much pectin. Lemons are really good. A lemon and ginger marmalade's a really nice one to make, lots of pectin, so that one will set easily.

Here are the key steps to get right when making marmalade. But first, you gotta pick the right fruit. Historically, and even today, the best fruit for the job is a Seville orange, a sour-bitter variety that's used as a souring agent in many Caribbean and Latin American cuisines in lieu of lemons or limes.

Add the shredded peel and muslin bag to the pan along with the water. Leave to soak overnight. This helps to extract the maximum amount of pectin from the fruit pulp, which will give a better set.

I prefer to use low sugar pectin, as the resulting marmalade is still sweet – but not overly sugary. The final secret in producing a sweet marmalade is to boil the orange peels several times to leach out the bitterness.

What's the ratio of sugar to fruit in marmalade? Because of the tartness of a Seville orange, the ratio of sugar to fruit in marmalade is 2:1. This recipe calls for 2kg of sugar and 1kg of oranges but you can scale it down or up using that ratio.

To prevent scum forming on the top of your jam, add a knob of butter to your fruit at the same time as you add the sugar, we recommend 20 grams per 1 kilogram of fruit. Note: Scum is nothing sinister, it is only air bubbles that are created during the cooking process, they will not ruin your jam/marmalade if they form.

Adding acid in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice is important for two reasons: First, it makes for a more well-balanced jam, returning some of the acidity lost with the addition of sugar. Second, pectin needs acid to properly activate, or firm up.

I always make small batches of marmalade, using 675g of fruit. Once the sugar is dissolved, a boil to a set takes an average of 5-7 minutes.

Making Marmalade and Jams with Pectin

Pectin is a gelling agent and provides texture, helping the setting process when jams and marmalade cools. Fast set high methoxyl pectin is mostly used for chunky jams and marmalades. Pectin is especially used to thicken recipes that include low-pectin-producing fruits.

How to tell when marmalade is done? ›

You simply spoon a little of the peel and cooking liquid onto a frozen plate, then return it to the freezer for 2 minutes. Take the plate out and push your finger through the liquid part. If it “wrinkles” and looks like, well, set jelly, you know the marmalade is ready.

Is marmalade healthier than jam? Both jam and marmalade are marginally healthier than jelly, which is made with fruit juice, so doesn't have any fibre from the fruit pieces. Marmalade and jam have similar nutritional properties making them pretty much the same in terms of healthiness.

Homemade fruit preserves can last for up to year or even longer if it is unopened and stored in a cool, dry place, such as a pantry or kitchen cupboard. However the flavour and texture of your jam will start to deteriorate after around 6 months, even if you keep them tightly sealed.

Jane Maggs said that most standard marmalade recipes adopted a rule of thumb by which for every 1lb fruit, 2 pints water and 2lb sugar were required. If half the water boils away then you're left with 1lb fruit and 1 pint water which is matched to 2lb sugar giving approximately a 50:50 ratio.

Baking soda is slightly alkaline and helps to break down the peels, shortening the time it takes to cook and soften them. You do not have to use it to make good marmalade, but it helps shorten the cooking process.

Originally, marmalade was made from quince, which is a fruit that looks like a pear. This variety of marmalade was expensive, so eventually someone decided to use oranges, which were cheaper compared to quince. Even though the quince was replaced, the name marmalade stuck.

Marmalade is usually made from citrus fruit like oranges. The process to make marmalade involves the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. Typically, marmalade is clearer in colour, and it has a chunky texture from the pieces of included peel.

Sugar aids in gel formation, develops flavor by adding sweetness, and acts as a preservative.