Music and CatsThursday, February 17, 2005
Marmalade redux
This evening, I made more marmalade, using up the remaining four pounds of seville oranges. While the first batch is quite good, it is very strong stuff, not for the faint of heart or palate. It is the sort of marmalade that I imagine my Scottish ancestors might have eaten to ward off the effects of too much whiskey the previous night.
For the second batch, I decided to make some changes. I reduced the amount of sugar by a cup, and changed the ratio of white sugar to brown; this recipe has 80% white, 20% brown. I chopped the orange peel into slightly finer pieces. I did not include the bag of seeds and pith in the cooking, as I wanted less bitterness. I flavored the marmalade with chopped candied ginger rather than with orange liqueur.
The result is a lighter, more delicate marmalade, perhaps a bit more tart than the first recipe, but considerably less bitter. The proportions of jelly to peel are different from the first batch; I used a little more water for simmering the fruit this time. This looks more like the marmalade that you'd see on the grocery store shelves, whereas the first recipe is darker and more rough-cut than any marmalade that I've ever seen before.
I don't have any brioche for tomorrow morning. I don't even have any bread for toast. Clearly I haven't been paying attention to the important stuff.
Note: If you're interested in orange marmalade, and want to compare notes with someone who has a web page with reviews of a number of different brands, visit Paul Anderson's marmalade page.
For the second batch, I decided to make some changes. I reduced the amount of sugar by a cup, and changed the ratio of white sugar to brown; this recipe has 80% white, 20% brown. I chopped the orange peel into slightly finer pieces. I did not include the bag of seeds and pith in the cooking, as I wanted less bitterness. I flavored the marmalade with chopped candied ginger rather than with orange liqueur.
The result is a lighter, more delicate marmalade, perhaps a bit more tart than the first recipe, but considerably less bitter. The proportions of jelly to peel are different from the first batch; I used a little more water for simmering the fruit this time. This looks more like the marmalade that you'd see on the grocery store shelves, whereas the first recipe is darker and more rough-cut than any marmalade that I've ever seen before.I don't have any brioche for tomorrow morning. I don't even have any bread for toast. Clearly I haven't been paying attention to the important stuff.
Note: If you're interested in orange marmalade, and want to compare notes with someone who has a web page with reviews of a number of different brands, visit Paul Anderson's marmalade page.
