THE PERFECT PRESERVE

Make a new year’s batch of homemade marmalade, then celebrate its versatility in an array of sweet and savoury recipes

Make your own marmalade, then showcase it in a range of sweet and savoury recipes

Now is the traditional time for marmalade making because it marks the short season of sour and bitter Seville oranges, which appear in the shops for a few weeks in late January and February. Golden, orange or dark, its peel cut thick or fine, this uniquely British preserve has been popular since the second half of the 17th century. It was first fashionable as a part of the dessert course at banquets, and migrated to the breakfast table by way of the medicine chest and a reputation for curing colds. Since then, it has shown no sign of going out of fashion. Old brands survive and new ones thrive; it is a cottage industry and big business. Yet still lots of us carry on making marmalade for ourselves – for the good taste, for the satisfaction of storing, and for the simple pleasure of being self-sufficient. And, of course, marmalade is not just for toast, as the following recipes for delicious puddings, cake and a simple glazed baked ham demonstrate.

SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE

Preparation 40 minutes, plus soaking Cooking 2 hours 30 minutes Makes about 2kg Adding a slug of whisky or cider brandy just before potting gives extra flavour – the heat of the marmalade evaporates the alcohol, so don’t worry about consuming spirits at breakfast time!

1kg Seville oranges 1 lemon 2kg preserving sugar 200g dark muscovado sugar 75ml whisky or cider brandy

1 Wash and dry the fruit, and cut into halves or quarters.

2 Set a sieve over a bowl and line it with a double layer of muslin.

3 Working over the sieve, juice the fruit, scouring the shells as you go, and putting the pips, squeezed flesh and membranes into the cloth. Using a reamer is the easiest way to empty oranges and lemons cleanly.

4 Reserve the juice squeezed from the fruit.

5 Using the muslin, tie all the residue into a loose bag and put it in a preserving pan with 2 litres of water.

6 Shred the orange skins as finely as you like and add the peel to the pan. Leave to soak for several hours or, better still, overnight.

7 Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the peel is tender enough to squish between finger and thumb, and the liquid has reduced by half. This usually takes about 2 hours. Cover the pan if too much evaporation is occurring before the peel is tender.

8 Remove the muslin bag and squeeze the liquid out of it back into the pan. Discard the bag. Add the sugars to the pan, plus the reserved juice. Put a few saucers in the freezer for testing whether the marmalade has set later on.

9 Bring slowly to the boil, stirring until all the sugar has melted – if you leave any grains undissolved you could find the marmalade crystallising in its pots as the sugar reverts. Raise the heat and boil hard until setting point is reached, usually about 10 minutes.

10 To test whether the marmalade will set, take the pan off the heat and drop a teaspoonful of the marmalade onto a chilled saucer. Leave it for a minute, then push it with your finger. When the mixture thickens enough to wrinkle, it will set. If it stays runny, return the pan to the boil for another few minutes, then test again. It should not need more than 20 minutes in total. The variability depends on the fruit and how much evaporation has taken place while tenderising the peel.

11 Take the pan off the heat, skim off any froth and allow to cool and thicken a little before stirring to re-distribute the peel and adding the alcohol. Pot in hot sterilised jam jars (you can run them through the dishwasher), seal and label when cold.