Beautifully wobbly, sweet, and bitter marmalade is an excellent way to brighten a chilly winter’s morning. Seville oranges are both rich in pectin, which is important for helping preserves to set, and very bitter so make an ideal marmalade. This method of slowly cooking the fruit and double-straining the pulp will help to extract the pectin-rich juice, ensuring your marmalade won’t be too runny. It’s worth looking out for Seville oranges, typically available from December to February, but they’re available to order online if you can’t find any in local markets. 

Honey imparts a wonderful, rounded flavour that you can enjoy for as long as the jar lasts. This marmalade is packed full of peel too, it’s not one for those who favour orange-flavour jam!

Makes:   1.25 -1.5 litres

Ingredients
1 kg Seville oranges (about 6 fruit)
2 lemons
1.5 kg honey
1400 ml water

Tip:   Gently warm granulated honey to ensure all crystals dissolve before boiling begins

Method

1. Prepare some clean, lidded jars. The final marmalade volume will depend on the water content of the fruit and boiling time. I typically use 4–6 jam jars of varying sizes.
   
   
2. Use a sharp knife to slice wide strips of peel from the oranges, removing most of the peel and leaving behind quite a bit of the pith. Finely slice the peel into your preferred size, making strips of about 2–4mm. Repeat with the lemons.
   
   
3. Add the peel to a very large pan along with 500ml water. 
   
   
4. Take another large pan and add 700ml water. Halve the oranges and lemons and squeeze out the juice. Add this to the second pan along with all the pips, pulp and pith.  
   
   
5. Heat both pans to boiling and then cover and cook on a low heat for about 60–90 minutes until the peel is tender. Stir both pans regularly to ensure nothing sticks, adding a little extra water if needed. 
   
   
6. While still warm (before the pectin solidifies) strain the liquid from the second pan (containing the pith and pulp) into the first pan (containing the shredded peel). Use a sieve, pressing the pulp with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. 
   
   
7. Return the fruit pulp to its pan and add a further 200ml of water. Heat briefly, stirring and mashing the fruit to release more pectin before straining the liquid again into the peel pan. 
   
   
8. Add the clear honey (see Tip) to the peel and pectin. The contents should take up no more than 30–40% of the total pan volume because the marmalade will bubble and rapidly expand as it boils. If your largest pan is too small, use two pans or cook in batches.
   
   
9. Place several saucers in the freezer – you’ll need these later to test for the marmalade setting point.
   
   
10. Stir the contents and then bring the pan to a rolling boil, cooking on a very high heat for 15 to 25 minutes. Avoid stirring, as the temperature will plummet. If you have a sugar or cooking thermometer, you need to reach 104°C to 105°C to achieve a setting point. If not, check for setting after 15 minutes. To test this, allow a teaspoonful of marmalade to cool on a chilled saucer. When setting is reached, it should wrinkle when pushed. If it’s not set, continue to cook for a further 3–5 minutes and test again. While the marmalade is cooking, sterilise your jars in a hot oven for 10 minutes and then turn off the heat.
    
    
11. Once the marmalade is set, remove from the heat and cool for about 10 minutes before ladling into the warm jars. I wear rubber gloves to prevent burns, and they make it easier to handle the hot jars. Once the jars are filled and lidded, invert them, coating the inside with hot marmalade, preventing mould growth, and then set upright.