Bitter orange marmalade

Ideally use Seville oranges, but 800g eating oranges with 200g lemons if not.

1kg oranges
1.5kg white granulated or preserving sugar
30ml whisky

Scrub fruit well and dry. Cut in half and squeeze out juice. Strain juice into a large, wide heavy-bottomed pan and gather the pips in a little muslin bag tied with string.

Slice the juiced oranges either coarsely or finely, including the pith and add to the pan with the bag of pips and enough water to cover generously – about 1.5 litres. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1.5hours or until the fruit is soft (it won’t soften further once is in cooked with the sugar). Squeeze the bag of pips and discard it. Add the sugar to the fruit over a gentle heat, stirring until it has dissolved. Bring the mixture back to the boil and boil quite rapidly for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a setting point is reached. Spoon off any scum. Add whisky and stir well. Leave to settle for 15 minutes, then ladle into sterilized jars.

Clear marmalade (Katherine’s recipe)

6 large sevilles
5lb sugar
1 lemon
6pt water (or less)
Slice fruit, soak pips in boiling water. Soak fruit 24 hours. Tie pips in muslin bag; boil fruit 2 hours. Add sugar and reboil 20-30 minutes.

Dark marmalade (Katherine’s recipe)

8 sevilles
2 sweet oranges
1 lemon
c.4pts water
1lb sugar per 1lb fruit and liquid
Boil whole fruits with enough water to float them. Cut open fruit, remove innards, strain pith and pips through muslin or seive, then cook quickly until you get a set. This is Jan 2008 marmalade and took ages to get a set (burnt the pan). Missed the jam thermometer bitterly. Resolved to find more instructions for the recipe next time.