Blood Orange Rosemary Marmalade
A wonderfully savoury scented preserve, using vibrant blood oranges. This will be a great addition to your breakfast table, or cheeseboard, or even as a glaze for a roast chicken!
Ingredients
- 3 Blood Oranges two large or three medium, try not to choose ones with too thick of skins
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup packed rosemary leaves from two to three large sprigs
Instructions
Day One
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Wash and dry the oranges, making sure the skins are nice and clean.
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Cut each orange into quarters, then slice the quarters into very thin slices. A good knife will be your friend here. Don't rush it. Remove the end pieces that are usually just pith, no actual fruit.
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Add the slices to the water along with the sugar in a medium pot or dutch oven. (Use only stainless steel or ceramic lined pots. The acid in the citrus fruit will react with aluminum.)
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Slowly bring the mixture to a low bubbling boil, ensuring that the sugar is fully dissolved, then remove from the heat and cover the pot.
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Leave the mixture in the pot at room temperature overnight.
Day Two
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Place the rosemary leaves into the centre of a piece of cheesecloth, bring the ends together to create a little closed bundle, and tie with kitchen twine. Add this bundle to the pot.
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Slowly bring the pot to a slow rolling boil, then reduce heat to medium low-low, to achieve a slow bubbling simmer, for about 1- 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Don't let it cook so long that too much liquid has evaporated.
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After 1 hour, remove the rosemary bundle and increase the heat to medium. You will begin to take the temperature of the marmalade now. You want to take the mixture to between 220 and 225 degrees F on a candy thermometer. This is the temperature needed for the pectin to set. This process should take about 15 minutes, depending on the actual heat you have it set at.
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Let cool and jar as desired. See Notes below.
Recipe Notes
You will need a piece of cheesecloth and kitchen twine for this recipe. Ideally you will also need a candy thermometer.
If you are concerned that it cooked down too long, you can test it by letting it cool in the pot and placing the pot into the fridge for an hour. Check to see the texture. Is it spreadable or has it gotten too paste-like? If so, return the pot to the stove and warm it through on medium low. Then add some water, 1 tbsp at a time and stir to loosen it up. Then you will be ready to jar it.
Options: Remove the marmalade from the heat and let it cool before adding it to sterilized mason jars and processing in a water bath to ensure a good seal on the jars as instructed by the bottle manufacturer. Store in a cool dark place. Store in jars in the fridge- it will last about two months just fine. It will also freeze fine if placed into freezer safe containers.
Link to the original recipe over at Rock Recipes!