When I first started making marmalade, I thought it was the same as any other preserve. Chop the fruit, combine it with sugar and cook until set. I didn’t realize that citrus needed a more specialized treatment. You either need to cut away the tough, white pith or treat it in some way so that it tenderizes and loses its chewy bitterness.
This recipe uses an overnight soak to help break down the pith, providing a far superior product to the old blood orange marmalade recipe you’ll find on this site. The fruit becomes tender and it fully suspended in a ruby-hued jelly. Here’s how you do it.
Take 1 pound of blood oranges (approximately 4-5 tennis ball-sized oranges) and wash them well. Trim away both ends and slice the oranges in half.
Using a very sharp knife, trim away the core of the oranges and pluck out any seeds that you find. Set the cores and the seeds aside. Not all blood oranges have seeds, so don’t stress if you don’t find any.
Cut the orange halves into thin slices. Go as thin as you can manage (I recommend sharping your knife before starting this project).
Finally, cut each sliced half in half again, so that you have a number of thin blood orange quarters.
Bundle up all those seeds and pithy cores in a length of cheesecloth and tie it tightly so that nothing can escape.
Put chopped oranges in a medium bowl and cover with 3 cups water. Tuck the cheesecloth bundle into the bowl and cover the whole thing with a length of plastic wrap or a plate. Refrigerate it overnight.
When you’re ready to cook your marmalade, remove the cheesecloth bundle. Combine the soaked fruit and water with 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar. If you happen to have a copper preserving pan like the one you see pictured above, make sure to fully dissolve the sugar into the fruit before pouring it into the pan.
Bring the marmalade to a simmer and cook until it is reduced by more than half, reads 220 degrees F on a thermometer and passes the plate/sauce/wrinkle test. When it is finished cooking, pour marmalade into prepared jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
When all is done, you should have three half pints of the most vivid red blood orange marmalade. I’m extraordinarily fond of this particular preserve on peanut butter toast, as you can see above. It’s also good on scones, stirred into yogurt or with crumbly homemade shortbread.
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Just made a double batch of this, and wound up with about 5 half pint jars (I think I would have gotten more out had I not been eating it as I went)! Absolutely lovely and just the right balance of sweet and bitter. Now on to the grape catchup recipe (planning on using it for pulled pork next week)…
Since I gave all my canning supplies away years ago, I am wondering if this marmalade could be frozen–instead of processed in a water bath…? I’m hoping you’ll say, “Just fine.”
Thanks
You could freeze it, or you could just let the jars seal and keep them in the fridge. They’ll keep 6-8 months unopened in the fridge.
I made my first ever batch of Mandarin orange marmalade a few months ago. I opened a jar and it’s . . . Um . . . Firm. I bent a spoon trying to get it out of the jar. Do you suppose it’s salvageable? I’m guessing that I cooked it way too long, not recognizing it was “passing” the plate test. I tested a second jar, just to see if it wasn’t a problem with that one jar, but it was tough, too. If it’s salvageable, should I heat the jar of marmalade in hot water with the lid off and then refrigerate it and use soon? Or what? Thanks so much!
First, the recipe says there are three tests, and the batch has to pass all three tests. This is not correct; pick one test and ignore the others.
Second, the recipe doesn’t say that the 220 degrees figure applies only at sea level. You have to reduce the temperature at altitude. The USDA has a jam making guide that includes a chart for the correction.
Third, when my first batch reached 220 degrees (I live very near sea level), it had reduced by only about one third (and yes, I was measuring with a ruler). If you use the plate test, remove the pot from the heat while the sample cools, things happen very fast at the end. If you use temperature, remove the pot from the heat the exact second it reaches your temperature, don’t let it cook further at all. One degree makes a lot of difference in the end result. The USDA says that marmalade can be cooked again if it doesn’t set up enough; I have not had that problem, and so can’t comment.
Fourth, this has nothing to do with setting, but I think the rind should be thinner than shown in the pictures. Commercial marmalade rind is so thin it is nearly translucent. For one batch, use a very sharp knife. I bought a mandolin, which speeds the job up a lot, but I haven’t really gotten the hang of using it yet so it is only somewhat thinner. Also, the mandolin leaves a lot of rind that still has to be cut by hand.
[...] she mentions another blog called Food In Jars. When I visited this site, I found the recipe for Blood Orange Marmalade. Yum. Just the thought of a nice piece of sourdough spread with a little homemade marmalade, washed [...]
Any ideas why this would turn GREEN when cooking? Could it bee that the fruit was sprayed with pesticides the sunk into the skins? They were lovely like yours when I began….
Thanks…
Notes from a chemist: IF you used a copper preserving bowl, the copper may have reacted with the acids in the fruit to form a copper-based salt. For example, copper acetate (formed when copper reacts with vinegar) is a dark blueish colour while copper citrate (formed when it reacts with citric acid) is an intense, light blue. I suspect it is the later. Copper citrate occurs naturally both in nature and in foods and is actually used, when large amounts are present, as a pesticide. Small amounts are harmless, but if the marmalade is really dark, I would dispose of it to prevent risk of diarrhea and stomach upset.
Any ideas for making mango marmalade?
[...] Blood Orange Marmalade from Food in Jars (love this one) [...]
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Any thoughts on making a jalapeno orange marmalade?
The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving includes a recipe for Orange Chili Marmalade (or maybe it was jam, but either way, you could adapt).
KP- i’ve been thinking about chile but not necessarily jalapeno. Tonight I will try it with blood oranges as that combination is a Mexican classic.
Does anyone know why you are to put the pith and seeds into the oranges to soak overnight?I had no seeds and very little pith.
[...] Orange Marmalade adapted from Food in Jars’ Blood Orange Marmalade 1 pound oranges (I used 3 large and weighed them) 3 cups water 2 1/2 granulated sugar (I used super [...]
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I spent quite some time today cutting up 2 kilos of bloodoranges. They are now in the fridge.
I took your advice about a sharp knife to heart so I sharpened my chef’s knife and then proceeded to cut my left index finger. It was my first time in 5 years that I hurt myself in the kitchen. And to have it happen while cleaning bloodoranges made me chuckle.
Tomorrow I sterilize some jars and cook my marmalade. Can’t wait!
I bought 10 blood oranges today and they weigh 4 pounds. Can I use this recipe? How much water and sugar should I use?
Rose, you could multiply this recipe and make a larger batch. Just increase everything in proportion. I would recommend that you separate it into two batches.
[...] shrub instead of some wine. Instant blood orange chicken (follow that sauce up with a dollop of blood orange marmalade to emphasize the [...]
Hi- My fiancee and I just tried our first batch of blood orange marmalade yesterday (recipe from the big Ball cookbook). Wish I’d seen this one, seems much easier than me spending hours separating the membranes! However, due to being slightly gel-shy since our last batch of clementine marmalade was rock hard from overcooking, we erred too much on the side of caution this time and ended up with 12 small (4oz) jars of ….. blood orange syrup! We are making 100 jars of jams/jellies/marmalades as wedding favors and would like to reprocess this batch. I’ve heard of how to do it for jams and jellies, but is it the same process for marmalade? It seems trickier than our other, simpler jam recipes. I don’t want to add extra pectin, just cook a bit longer if possible. Thoughts?
You can use the same technique outlined in this post for your marmalade. If you don’t want to add additional pectin (though because blood oranges are a hybrid fruit, they don’t have many seeds, which means you don’t have the same opportunities for pectin extraction than you do with seedier citrus), you can just bring it back up to a boil. Cook to 221 or 222 degrees F to ensure your set.
Thanks for the tips! We recanned last night and … let’s just say that the threshold between “syrup” and “hard candy” is a mighty small one! It is now rock hard, and it happened so FAST! It still tastes good, and we’ll be happy to heat and eat as crepe toppings, etc. but won’t be giving this batch away. Oh, well, this IS the Mile High City, so we’ll just chalk it up to “altitude”
and try again with fresh fruit. This time we’ll use your recipe – the best part of all this may end up being that it led me to your site!
This is just the recipe I was looking for.
Do you know why soaking the slices with the pith and seeds work? Just curious.
I read elsewhere that the seeds contain pectin, which helps it to gel.
My 1st go at marmalade making (I love blood orange marmalade – most marmalades are too bitter for me). This was scrumptious. I simmered for quite a while but it wasn’t really reducing, so I ramped up the heat and boiled at 220, it didnt pass the cold plate test, so boiled it for a further 5, then 5 more mins, and a few more. It still seemed runny but I decided that was enough and luckily its just right!
To the previous post – I’ve read a while back that pips have natural pectin in. My blood oranges had a few so maybe that helped not being so runny in the end.
Thanks for the recipe- it’s a keeper
[...] lemons. There’s a recipe in my cookbook, but if you don’t have it, use this recipe for Small Batch Blood Orange Marmalade. It will work just as well. If you want something a little different, consider trying the [...]
I am in the throes of making your blood orange marmalade recipe in your book, but I am thinking that it is a little too sweet for me. How much can I cut back on the sugar so that it is still safe to can? I will try the above recipe next!
Read this post. Sugar doesn’t play a role in safety, it helps with set and shelf life.
Thanks! Obviously, I jumped right into the recipe, and didn’t read all the supporting information. Marmalade update: it is not too sugary, I jumped the gun. Also, it is the most beautiful color I have ever seen! A true winner, love it.
Hi! I have recently started making jam and you and your blog have been so helpful. I followed your instruction to make small-batch strawberry jam and it turned out beautifully. I just made some blood orange marmalade (my first attempt was an over-cooked disaster!), I have canned it and I’m hoping it sets alright but the zest has all accumulated at the top of the jars. Is that a bad sign?
It sounds like after your first overcooking experience, you undercooked the second batch. The zest accumulating at the top simply means that the jelly isn’t thick enough to keep it fully distributed.
[...] Enter Marissa from Food in Jars. I love her blog (and her cookbook). She has this amazing recipe for small batch blood orange marmalade. Her method is a simple, two-day process. Cut the fruit [...]
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In order to sterilise the jars, merely fill them with boiling water and wait a couple of minutes. It is difficult to judge the set of blood orange marmalade. I find that about 35 minutes of furious boiling does the trick and the mixture reduces approximately by half and thickens. I use cling film as a seal before screwing on the jam jar top. Although I usually add a couple of lemons to the mixture, I have successfully used a bergamot for some added pectin.
[...] from Small Batch Blood Orange Marmalade by Marisa McClellan, Food in [...]
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[...] But if you really, really need to see photos of the recipe in process, you can check Marisa’s blog post. My marmalade looks almost exactly like hers, but is a bit less chunky since I cut my orange pieces [...]
[...] actually like those. I decided to try it anyway when Marissa at Food In Jars posted a recipe for Small Batch Blood Orange Marmalade right where I could salivate over the [...]