Intensely fruity, thick and sharply flavoured. I can remember the kitchen filling up with a warm, comforting marmaladey fug and sitting alongside her as a child slicing the oranges. I still have the original written neatly in blue ink on a piece of Basildon Bond notepaper. First a few practicalities to keep down the cost because you can of course buy marmalade much, much more cheaply than it will cost you to make it. A large stainless steel pasta pan is perfect. The bottom of a pressure cooker will do. You can buy them from sites like but that does add to the cost so beg or borrow some from neighbours. Not pickle or chutney jars in which the smell of the previous contents tends to linger. The jars need to be as clean as possible. Old recipes suggest sterilising them by putting them in a hot oven but I find a recent run through the dishwasher will do the trick. Again from a specialist like or the. The original recipe states preserving sugar but this is now so hard to get and twice as expensive as granulated so I would and did use that. Wash and scrub the oranges and lemons with a vegetable brush and put them whole into a large pan with 1. Cover the pan with a lid or a large sheet of foil and bring slowly to the boil. You can probably remove the lemons after an hour and the oranges progressively after that. The kitchen will smell heavenly. Remove the fruit and measure the remaining liquid. If there is less than 1. Cut the fruit into quarters, scoop out the pulp and separate out the pips. Cut the skins into small thick slices and add along with the pulp to the pan of water. I've since discovered that leaving the fruit to soak in the water for an hour improves the set. This might seem a bit of a faff but the extra pulp and pectin helps the marmalade to set. Put the sugar in a warming drawer or very low oven to warm up. Bring the fruit up to boiling point then remove the bag of pips and squeeze and scrape the outside of the bag to release any remaining pulp. Add the warm sugar to the fruit and leave over a low heat, stirring occasionally until dissolved. Bring back to the boil and boil the marmalade for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking. Skim off the thick yellowish foam that forms round the edges from time to time. It should crinkle when you push it with your finger. As the marmalade reaches setting point it will darken and grow thicker. Once the marmalade has reached setting point, remove from the heat, skim off any remaining scum and allow to cool for about half an hour. Cover with a disc of waxed paper, if using, and seal with screw top lids or clear covers. Feel smug and happy. You can of course cut the amount of work involved by mincing the peel but I like proper looking chunks in my marmalade. Just get someone to sit alongside you as you do it. Actually my husband helped me with this batch while we listened to Bob Marley. Oh, and a final tip. Is this how you make your marmalade or do you reckon you have a better version? I'm sorry for your loss, Fiona. Food is definitely one of the best ways of connecting with our memories of people, especially when they taught us the recipes in question. I don't make marmalade as it's not my favourite jam, though I did make a lemon and whisky one once, which was nice, or did I go for lemon and ginger in the end? I forget, but I remember liking it, as did recipients! I was distraught when the discontinued the lemons! One tip I got from my late Grandmother and do all the time when making jams and the aforementioned cheat's marmalade is to not skim the pan but to stir in a knob of butter after removing it from the heat. This disperses the foam as if by magic. Andrea It's not very much butter and has never made enough of a difference to be evident to me but someone with a better palate may notice it. The other thing I do with my preserves is something I once saw Pam Corbin do on a River Cottage programme: Put the lids on the jars as soon as you've filled them, tighten them up and then tip them upside down for a couple of seconds so that the boiling hot contents sterilise the inside of the lid. Needless to day, don't pick the jars up with your bare hands to do this! If you're using jars with the pop-up safety buttons on them, the lids will expand alarmingly but as the contents of the jar cool you'll hear the reassuring sound of the buttons clicking down meaning that they are properly sealed and you get that satisfying 'pop' of a new jar when you come to open them. Lovely to remember your Mum with a recipe: she will always help you make marmalade! Her recipe is very like a Delia one I use having failed to make my Granny's recipe set. I've found that it's not that labels won't stick when the jars are hot, but that you'll never get the labels off again so you can re-use the jar. Crumbs: It's really not difficult - and sooo pleasurable. Maybe wait till your kids are big enough to help you slice up the peel though! And hadn't thought about the labels being difficult to get off, hausfrau. I find most will come off with a good soak in hot water and a bit of a scrub with a scourer Hi Fiona, my mum also used to boil the oranges whole. I must get to try it for myself. I make grapefruit marmalade all the time with the skins from my breakfast marmalade, which is always delicious, the blog post is here: but you are right, the tang of proper seville marmalade is the Real Thing. My usual seville orange recipe is the 3 day one from Jane Grigson's Fruit Book, that I blogged here. I like this a lot because you aren't attempting a full day of marmalading. If you are busy working, a hour or so can still be fitted in handily after the washing up of an evening. Nige Bamford I made this recipe yesterday and so many things felt wrong - the amount of liquid; boiling the whole fruit first; not putting the flesh in the muslin with the pips; and putting the lemon peel and flesh in. But the tasting at this morning's breakfast dispelled any worries - it's absolutely gorgeous. Tangy, not too sweet and great texture. Thanks Fiona and your Mum - I'm going to keep this. In fact I'm going out Monday morning to get some more Sevilles and make another batch because this first lot won't last long - I've got a marmalade cake lined up........ Anonymous Hi Fiona - well here I am 4th September and have just taken the frozen oranges out of the freezer. I have made marmalade in the past but wanted to refresh my memory. Glad you have such lovely memories of your mum. Mine are from my gran. Picked some elderberries earlier so while the marmalade is cooking I will look for a recipe for them. Ive also made oak leaf wine for the first time this year and cant wait to try it. I had some from a friend whose father makes it and its like a sauternes. Thanks again for the recipe :-.
