Shortcut Seville marmalade

If you've never made marmalade before then this shortcut recipe is for you - it saves hours on the traditional method

Recipe uploaded by

Sara Buenfeld

3 ratings 5

Recipe by Sara Buenfeld

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Tested

Difficulty and servings

Makes 4 x 500g jars

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 10 mins

Cook 2 hrs 10 mins

Boil the whole oranges in 2 litres water until very soft - it will take about 2 hrs. Pour the liquid into a preserving pan or a large saucepan.
Cut the oranges into wedges, flick out the pips with the point of a knife then gently squeeze the wedges over the pan as they'll be very juicy. Thinly slice them, then add to the pan with jam sugar. Dissolve over the heat then boil for 7-10 mins, stirring occasionally, until a little of the mixture dropped onto a chilled plate sets and wrinkles when you push your finger through. Leave to settle for 15 mins before potting into sterilised jars.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2011.

Latest comments and suggestions

Mary

24 January 2011

Mary commented on this recipe

Tried this on Sunday and it didn't get anywhere near to setting. The quantity of oranges to water appear to be different from other recipes. Can't see what I did wrong.

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BeeDee

26 January 2011

BeeDee commented on this recipe

I agree with Mary with regards to oranges to water ratio - being biased to oranges, but my problem was the opposite, it didn't just set, it turned to toffee!

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westover

26 January 2011

westover commented on this recipe

can anyone say what jam sugar is please? Are there substitutes for Seville oranges as I do not think they are available where I live?

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HeidiK

28 January 2011

HeidiK commented on this recipe

Tried this yesterday and as I am a complete novice at marmalade making I clearly got the wrinkling part wrong as it was still very runny this morning. I poured it all back into the pan and boiled for about 30 mins and it wrinkles better than yesterday but I am not convinced, still seems a bit runny, but is still cooling down. In all, I have probably boiled the jam for more than 45 mins - nothing like the 7-10 in the recipe! Re the sugar - I bought Silver Spoon Jam Sugar but when I read the back of the packet this morning it says to use PRESERVING sugar for marmalade - would that have made it set better?

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HeidiK

29 January 2011

HeidiK commented on this recipe

Having now left to cool / set for 24 hours, I popped some on my toast this morning. Has set fairly well, could be a bit better, but tastes good, not too bitter.

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Beamy

30 January 2011

Beamy commented on this recipe

I normally make traditional Oxford marmalade, but had a look at this recipe to see how they could make it quickly yet successfully. Judging from the comments, it's NOT succesful, and it seems to me you shouldn't try to shortcut with jam as pectin levels in fruits and quantities of liquid etc can vary so much and affect the results big time. Thought I'd comment to let HiediK know that "Jam sugar" has added pectin (supposedly the right amount) to help set fruits that are naturally low in sugar like apricots and raspberries etc. Seville oranges, however, have a high natural pectin content, so "Preserving sugar" can be used: it is designed to not sink to the botom of the pan and burn during the cooking process, and I don't think it contains much - or any - pectin. However, looking at the difficulties some people have had setting this recipe, it seems that using Jam sugar would be a better one to use.

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Maryrecipes

30 January 2011

Maryrecipes commented on this recipe

this marmalade took 25 minutes of boiling in order to set. tastes great. I added juice of half a lemon and a few tablespoons of whisky as well.

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cookie62

31 January 2011

cookie62 rated and commented on this recipe

Never made marmalade before. Like the other reviewers my marmalade didnt reach the setting stage. In the end i added some gelatine. After that it turned out great. Had some on my toast yesterday and i have to say i was impressed. So if in doubt make sure you have some gelatine on standby. Yummy

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Margaret

03 February 2011

Margaret commented on this recipe

I have just tried this recipe for the second time. Like everyone else who commented, the marmalade did not set the first time. This time I used half the water specified in the recipe and it worked!

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Susan_

04 February 2011

Susan_ commented on this recipe

Wasn't able to get jam sugar so used normal. Didn't think it would be a problem as oranges are high in pectin.Also added 50 ml lemon juce. The marmalade needed much more boiling than in the recipe - more like 1.5 - 2 hours (I didn't time it exactly), but the result was delicious. Think I will add less water next time too.

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Marian

08 February 2011

Marian commented on this recipe

Really easy recipe, I used 1.5 Ltrs of water instead of 2 Ltrs and it set quickly. My husband says its just like his Gran used to make so he is happy. I made another batch using lemons instead of oranges, that is good too

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Cat

11 February 2011

Cat commented on this recipe

I fell at the first post! After boiling for 2 hours in Step 1, I had no liquid left. Does anyone know how much liquid there should be at the end of stage 1? First attempt at making marmalade, and probably the last!

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Johnnic

22 February 2011

Johnnic rated and commented on this recipe

I made this last night and has turned out great.

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Michele123

23 February 2011

Michele123 commented on this recipe

I tried this today and was a success. The only problem is it took ages to actually set. As this was my first time making any kind of preserve and I was very confused about the sealing at the end. Do you put a wax disc on it when it is hot then a celophane top with an elastic band? The discs I had were tiny and I would have needed to overlap 3 or 4 to cover the top! I was using the 1/2 litre parfait jars that had a rubber seal around the top of the lid. In the end I gave out all the marmalade to family and said to eat it straight away! Any advice for next time would be great.

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ddevaney

03 March 2011

ddevaney commented on this recipe

I made this marmalade a couple of weeks ago, I only had 1kg of jam sugar and 1/2 kg of preserving sugar so decided try my luck with that. I used the amount of water given in the receipe but as previous comments I also had to boil it for a lot long, but it turned out great, just as good as a friend of mine who does hers the old fashioned way which takes forever!

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Christina

09 March 2011

Christina commented on this recipe

Ilove homemade marmalade and when i saw this recipe i decided that i would make it, the shortcut aspect was particularly appealing. Altho' i cook and bake most days i'd never made any kind of jam. On the 1st attempt i followed the recipe exactly, but when it came to the boil for 7-10mins stage i knew that it wasnt going to be long enough. It was very watery,i boiled it for 1 hour and altho it was reducing it wasn't at the wrinkling stage i then got impatient, turned up the heat and it then turned to toffee! Noooooooooooooo! Anyway i wasnt going to be beat so i tryed again, this time i used 2pints of water instead of 2litres, boiled it for 15mins and it worked a treat and i've since made a 2nd batch. Its yummy! I'm so glad i persevered but having said that i've used lots of good food recipes in the past and have never had any problems so i'm rather mistified by this recipe. Good Food could you please give us some explanation given that so many of us have had a problem with this recipe?

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Catherine

04 April 2011

Catherine rated and commented on this recipe

Having read the comments above, I tried this starting out with 2 pints of water. After simmering the oranges, with lid on, for 1.5hrs, I had 4fl ozs left! I added enough extra water to make up 2 pints. I will try with the full 2 litres next time as I suspect it will reduce significantly. I also used only regular sugar and added 2tbs lemon juice. Boiled it for about 25 minutes. It seems to be setting up OK, still a little soft after 5 hrs, but perfectly usable and tastes good, not too sweet. Made this way, it produced about 65 fl ozs in total.

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Margaret

07 December 2011

Margaret commented on this recipe

Jury's still out on this one. I too had to reboil this morning, and added a sachet of pectin for good luck. Bottled it about an hour ago so will see how it goes during the day.

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Margaret

08 December 2011

Margaret commented on this recipe

Nope still not set this morning. More like the consistency of runny honey. Am going to boil it up again, and add some whiskey, after that I am giving up.

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JennyLucy

28 January 2012

JennyLucy commented on this recipe

Just looked this up as I used it last year and it was lovely. I agree that it took longer to reach setting point than suggested in recipe; but jam and marmalade timings are never exact so there is always a bit of trail and error.

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