Blood Orange Marmalade

A beautiful homemade marmalade with the deep color and distinctive flavor of fresh blood oranges, balanced with lemon for brightness. Slowly cooked with thinly sliced citrus peel, this marmalade develops a wonderful bittersweet flavor and jewel-like appearance that is delicious on toast, biscuits or freshly baked scones.

Blood Orange Marmalade

Yield: 3 (8-ounce) jars
Prep Time: About 20 minutes, plus at least 12 hours standing
Cook Time: About 1–1½ hours

Ingredients:

• 3 blood oranges
• 4 cups water
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 3–4 cups granulated sugar, as needed

Instructions:

1. Scrub the oranges thoroughly. Cut them in half lengthwise and slice as thinly as possible. Cut the slices into eighths, reserving all of the juice.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the sliced oranges, reserved juice, lemon zest and water. Cover and let stand for at least 12 hours.
3. Transfer the mixture to a large stainless-steel saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Add the lemon juice.
5. Measure the total volume of the cooked fruit and liquid. For every 1 cup of mixture, add ¾ cup granulated sugar.
6. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
7. Boil for 30–60 minutes, or until the marmalade reaches 221°F or falls from a spoon in sheets.
8. Pour the hot marmalade into sterilized jars, seal and allow to cool.

Tip: The original recipe makes approximately three 8-ounce jars. For a larger batch, 5 blood oranges and 3 lemons can be used with proportionally increased amounts of water and sugar. This larger batch yielded about 7 small jelly jars.

Source: Gateways Inn, Lenox, Massachusetts