Old English Marmalade

Ingredients for Old English Marmalade:

  • 2 lb (900 g) Seville oranges
  • ½ lb (225 g) lemons
  • 6 pints (3.4 litres) water
  • 1 lb (450 g) sugar per 1 lb (450 g) pulp – of which 1lb should be brown

 

Method for Making Old English Marmalade:

  • Wash and dry the fruit. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. Remove the pips, inside skin and pith. Tie these in a piece of muslin.
  • Cut the peel chunkily.
  • Put the peel in a large bowl with the bag of pips etc and the juice. Add 6 pints (3.4 litres) of water and leave to soak overnight.
  • Weigh the preserving pan and make a note of it. Put the soaked peel, pith and pips into it with the water and juice.
  • Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the peel is soft and the contents of the pan have been reduced to half its original bulk. This will take about 1½ hours.
  • Lift out the bag of pips and pith, squeezing it again the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
  • Test for pectin.
  • Re-weigh the pan and subtract from this weight the original weight of the empty pan to calculate the weight of the remaining pulp.
  • Add 1 lb (450 g) of warmed sugar to each 1 lb (450 g) of pulp of which 1 lb (450 g) should be brown.  Stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
  • Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the marmalade sets when tested.
  • Remove the scum and leave to cool slightly.
  • Pot and seal whilst still hot.

(Makes about 6 lbs (2.7 kg) of marmalade.)