2 Citrus Marmalade

This is my spin on marmalade. Even my mother likes it!
jars of marmalade

2 pink grapefruits
4 Valencia oranges
1 cup orange juice
4-5 cups sugar
4Tbl standard pectin
You’ll also need a canner w/ rack, 8 half pint jars w/ lids+rings, jar tongs, wide mouth funnel, a large non reactive pot (an enameled dutch oven is great) and a thermometer ($10 at Target). Here are the basics for canning if you’re new.

Use a veg peeler to take off the zest. Slice the strips crosswise into confetti and put into 1 quart of water (in a nonreactive pot) and boil for 30 mins.

While that is boiling, supreme your fruit. To supreme, you cut off all the rind (yes, down to the pulp) then cut out the sections between the membranes, removing all seeds and membranes. These pulpy sections are ‘supremes’. Put the supremes and juice in a bowl, you should have about 4 cups or so.

After your zest has boiled, drain the zest, which should be soft. Add zest to fruit. Add sugar (you can use 5 or 6 cups, I used 6). Use a large dutch oven or other heavy enameled (non reactive) pot to boil the marmalade. Put the heat on high and bring to a rolling boil. Stir every 5 mins or so.

You are supposed to bring it to 220F and keep it there for a minute or so to achieve set. Mine rarely gets above 217F, so I use pectin. Pull it off the heat, add pectin, stir thoroughly for a couple of minutes and you’re ready to jar. It’ll be loose, but don’t worry, it’ll set up overnight.

The jars must be sterilised for this recipe, so just chuck ‘em in the canner and bring them to a boil with the canning water. Start the canner up when you start the marmalade and it should be boiling by the time the marmalade is done. Also, don’t forget to put the lids in med lo water to simmer to soften the gasket.

This recipe gave me exactly 8 half pints filled to .5″ from the top. Process the filled jars for at least 10 minutes at the boil. The marmalade has a pleasing soft set (after sitting overnight), which will be firmer when refrigerated and after they sit for a few days.

This is a really nice marmalade. Try it!