Blood Orange Marmalade- so much easier this way!

 Thank you to Marissa McClellan for this wonderful new, less “fussy” but really delicious  marmalade.  After almost thirty years of canning, it was only last year that I made my first marmalade- Strawberry and lemon.  And it confirmed all the reasons for avoiding making marmalades- beginning with the removal of the “pith” and the  delicate cutting of fruit to remove membranes, yadda, yadda, yadda.  This was a delicious marmalade, a hit with my taste testers BUT too much work- lol.  And then came Marissa’s new method.  Check out this recipe…

To make about 3 x 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

1 lb    Blood oranges (about 4-5 oranges)

3 cups  Water

2.5 cups  Sugar

Directions

Wash the oranges well.  Trim away both ends and slice the oranges in half.  Using a sharp knife, trim away the core of the orange and pluck away the seeds, if any.  I made a V incision to remove the pith in the middle of the orange half.  Some blood oranges have no seeds.  Set the cores and the seeds aside.

Thinly slice each orange half, then in half again. You will have quarters.  Place the oranges in a bowl, add the three cups of water.  Place the cores and seeds in a cheesecloth and close tightly.  Add the cheesecloth bundle to the oranges and water, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

To make the marmalade, place the soaked fruit and water (discard the cheesecloth bundle) in the preserving pan, add 2.5 cups of sugar and dissolve the sugar slowly on low heat.  When it is fully dissolved, bring the marmalade to a boil and simmer until it is reduced by more than half.  The thermometer should read 220 degrees F and should pass the plate test.  When it is finished cooking place in the prepared canning jars.  Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a steam canner for 10 minutes.

Notes:  be sure to cut the slices as thinly as possible.