There’s nothing quite like dark, rich, old fashioned English marmalade on toast. This is a lovely recipe that will make every Paddington Bear happy.
It’s orange season here, and the trees are dripping with fruit. I am dealing with quite a glut of oranges so it is the perfect moment to make a few jars of good old fashioned dark English marmalade. I love all marmalades, but this one is my favourite – dark and mellow. It reminds me of breakfast tea and toast on an autumn morning back home in the UK. This is a recipe I found a few years back and it has never let me down.
Before starting the recipe you will need to prepare some jars – I usually prepare between 6-8 jars depending on their size.
The recipe
You will need:
- 1kg of seville oranges
- 1 lemon
- 4 pints of water
- 500g light brown sugar
- 500g dark brown sugar
- 1 kg white or preserving sugar
First of all you need to wash and chop your oranges. I chop mine very fine as my husband doesn’t like marmalade too chunky. Then put the organise, the juice of the lemon and water into a preserving pan and simmer until it has reduced by about half and the peel is very soft.
Once the peel is soft, add your sugars and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. I check the back of the spoon to see that all the sugar crystals have disappeared. Then increase the heat until it is at a rolling boil which will take about 15 minutes. Don’t leave the marmalade unattended from this point on as it can bubble up quickly in the pan.
I boil my marmalade for 10 minutes then start testing it to see if it’s ready to set. Put some saucers in the freezer to get cold, then move the pan off the heat and drop a teaspoon of marmalade onto the saucer. Leave it a couple of minutes then push it with your finger. If there is a skin which wrinkles on top of the marmalade it’s ready. If not – pop it back on the heat, boil it for another 5 minutes and test again.
Once it’s ready let it cool a little and pour it into the jars. Pop the lids on and let it cool completely. Then put your best Paddington hat on, get some toast and tea ready and enjoy a classic British experience! If you have some oranges left over (like me!) why not try a really simple orange cordial to capture the taste of summer.