Orange Marmalade
Orange Marmalade is a delicious orange flavored fruit preserve made from oranges (including peel), lemon juice, sugar, and water. This simple marmalade recipe is perfect when you want to make a small batch preserve without using pectin and without the canning process. It takes only 35-40 minutes to make it and stays good in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and freezer for up to 3 months. Always choose the oranges that taste sweet and have thin skin because the flavor of the marmalade depends on that. Serve it as a spread on the bread toast, as a plain vanilla cake topping, or mix it with plain yogurt or oats and enjoy!
| Ingredients: |
| 4 small Oranges (thin skin recommended) (1 lb,approx. 450 gm) |
| 1/2 Lemon (juice + zest) (1½ tablespoons lemon juice) |
| 1 teaspoon grated Ginger, optional |
| 1½ cups Sugar |
| 3 tablespoons Water |
Directions:
- Place 2 plates in the freezer to check the doneness of marmalade in a later step. Wash the oranges and dry them. Cut the thick part from top and bottom as shown in the picture.
- Cut it into pieces. Remove the white pith from the center. If you are not using seedless oranges, remove the seeds.
- Transfer orange pieces to the jar of a food processor or a vegetable chopper attachment of a blender and blend until the skin is into small pieces.
- Transfer it to a pot or a saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon grated ginger.
- Add lemon juice (approx. 1½ tablespoons) and lemon zest (from 1/2 lemon), 1½ cups sugar and 3 tablespoons water.
- Mix well.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium flame.
- Once it comes to a boil, reduce the flame to low and simmer it for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture turns a little thick. Stir in between occasionally at regular intervals to prevent sticking.
- As you can see the mixture looks a little thick, the color has changed to darker, and fewer bubbles appear on the top.
- Remove the plate from the freezer and drop a spoonful of mixture over a cold plate to check whether it is done or not. Run a spoon through the mixture and if it leaves a clear track then it is ready. If the mixture is runny then you need to cook it more.
- Turn off the flame and transfer it to 2 clean jars (2 half-pint jars, 250 gm jars). Let it cool down to room temperature. Once it cools down, cover it with a lid and place jars in the refrigerator. It stays good for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator and for up to 3 months in the freezer. Once removed from the freezer, store it in the refrigerator and consume it within 15 days. Always use a clean spoon when removing the marmalade.
Tips and Variations:
- To prevent the marmalade from turning bitter, always choose thin skin oranges. White pitch under the skin has a bitter taste and it makes the marmalade bitter but we need that for natural pectin as well. So don’t choose thick skin oranges as they have more white pith.
- If you like the thick texture of marmalade like jam, cook it a little bit more as shown in the picture above in step-.
- If you like a little bit of runny texture, don’t cook it too long as the texture will turn thick as it cools down.
- If the marmalade turns super thick, add 1/4 cup of water to the cooked marmalade, mix well, and cook again for a few minutes.
- The time required to cook depends on the quantity and thickness of the pot, it will take approx. 25-35 minutes.
Taste: Sweet orange flavor
Serving Ideas: Orange marmalade can be served as a spread on bread toast, sandwiches, plain vanilla cake, paratha, etc. It can be also mixed with plain yogurt and overnight oats.
Credits: We have adapted this recipe from this recipe.
Credits: We have adapted this recipe from this recipe.