24 hour marmalade

I'm so sorry, I completely forgot that I promised you a marmalade recipe! I am totally blaming it on getting ill, despite the fact I've been recovered for almost a week now. The 24 hour marmalade turned out to be lovely. I don't mess with a classic, but I like the fact that it's just a fraction less bitter and a fraction softer (as in, the peel bits are softer) than normal marmalade.

Making marmalade takes me ages - every time I am surprised by how much longer it takes than jam. The fruit takes about an hour to prepare and it has to cook for much longer than soft fruits before hitting setting point.

24 hour marmalade

NB: I make big batches when I preserve, as I only do it when the fruit is in season. You may want to reduce the quantities.

• 12 seville oranges
• 2 normal oranges (I didn't have any normal oranges when I made the second batch and it doesn't make a world of difference)
• 4 lemons
• 12 pints water
• 8lb sugar (I don't like my preserves too sweet. You may want to add a bit more sugar)

1. Pare off the rind from all the fruit, taking as little white pith as possible, then chop into lengths, as fine or coarse as you please. I use a peeler for this, then chop the lengths of peel into little strips. Pop the strips into your preserving pan.
2. If your fruit is quite tender and doesn't have too much pith or seeds, you can cut off the excess pith (don't throw it away!) and just cut the flesh of the fruit into small chunks. If, like me, you usually find that the oranges you buy are a bit aged and stringy, just juice them, saving the pith and seeds. Add the juice or flesh to the preserving pan and cover with eight pints of the water.
3. Put the pith and seeds into a separate bowl and cover with the remaining four pints of water.
4. Leave both bowls to soak at least overnight, preferably for 24 hours
5. Strain the water from the pith bowl into the preserving pan and tie the pith and pips into a piece of muslin. Theoretically you're meant to tie the muslin 'bag' onto the handle of the preserving pan, but I usually just drop it in and fish it out later.
6. Pop a small plate into the freezer (to test the setting point. There are other methods of testing it, but I find the cold plate works perfectly well for me). Wash your jars and sterilise them. I do this by popping them into the oven at about 120C for at least 10 minutes, then turning the oven off and leaving the jars in there till I'm ready to bottle up. If I'm feeling really clever I also sterilise either a jam funnel, jug or ladle, but quite often I forget and find myself boiling one up hastily when the time comes to decant.
7. Bring the contents of the pan to the boil and keep at a rolling boil for at least an hour. The liquid needs to have reduced by about half and the strips of fruit skin should be nice and soft. Stir regularly while boiling.
8. If there is much scum on the surface of the pan, skim it off, then add the sugar and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly.
9. Remove the pip and pith bag. Cookery books always tell you to squeeze it out, but I've never figured out how to do that without inflicting severe burns, so I tend to just let it drip over the pan for a minute or so.
10. Bring the marmalade back to a vigorous boil. Quantity will reduce by about half again before setting point is reached, but I tend to test regularly from a couple of minutes after the marmalade comes to the boil, as I don't like my preserves to be too hard set.
11. To test whether the marmalade is ready, drop a teaspoonful onto your cold plate and pop back into the freezer for a minute or two. When you push the cold marmalade with your finger, there should be a visible skin forming on the top. If not, boil for a couple of minutes more and try again, ad infinitum. Sometimes I never seem to hit a 'true' setting point with marmalde, but I tend to get bored after a while, bottle it up anyway, and it always seems to set after a fashion.
12. Take the marmalade off the heat, skim off any scum (save it and eat it when it's cold, it's delicious!). If you want to make sure that the peel is evenly distributed through the marmalade, leave it in the pan until it has started to skin over, then decant into jars, leaving until completely cool before sealing securely (jars should only be sealed when the produce is near boiling or completely cold, to prevent locking in nasty bacteria at perfect growing temperature, I was always told).
13. Enjoy!