That golden glow

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Yes I know, I’m obsessed. Here’s my marmalade in the making. The kitchen is filled with orangey steam. I always use the recipe from my trusty ‘Women’s Institute book of jams and other preserves’, which I bought about 25 years ago for 10 pence at a jumble sale. It’s certainly been well used since then! In case anyone else wants to try, I thought I would post the recipe, so here it is: 3 pounds (1.5 kg) Seville oranges (no other kind will do - too sweet) 4 and a half to 6 pints of water (those are UK pints, so 1 pint = 20 fl ounces) (2.75 to 3.5 Litres) juice of 2 lemons 6 pounds (3 kg) of sugar Use either the imperial or the metric measurements as they are not equivalent. Scrub the oranges, cut in half and squeeze out all the juice. Add to a preserving pan with the water. Scrape out the pips and tie them in a muslin bag; add to the pan. Slice the peel thinly (nowadays I do this with a mandolin); add to the pan. Add the lemon juice. Simmer gently until the peel is quite soft and the volume reduced by about one third (about two hours). Remove from the heat, pick out the muslin bag and squeeze out as much liquid as you can into the pan. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Heat again until boiling, and boil rapidly until setting point is reached (I use the cold plate test - and reaching this stage is usually very quick). Cool slightly, and pour into warmed jars. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2021.