Attempt at Scottish Orange Marmalade

[DerekvG]

On one of my visits to Edinburgh I ate some very special marmalade, Orange marmalade, which i was told was Scottish Orange Marmalade.
A number of things got stuck in my memory, thing I missed in other marmalades (and i like my marmalade on toast)
- the colour other then most of the industrial marmalades, it wasn't light it was dark and not really translucent
- tastes : i had a nice dose of whisky, of course it was sweet but the bitter tastes dominated the sour, and there were chuncks of ginger and confit of orange peel in it

After a few years of experimenting, resulting in failures like too much sugar, too sour, too thick, and some disasters like a burned pot, I think I've managed to approach the taste in my latest batch.

So for the amateur chefs :
for about 3 l of orange marmalade you need :
* 2,5 kg of oranges , as the bitter type is not commonly available here in the north you are better off with juice oranges as they are a bitterer variant,
* 300 gr of fresh ginger , you can also use stem ginger on syrup,
* 1.5 of sugar or half of that with jellyfying sugar (with pectine mixed),
* some brown candy sugar or some maple or agave syrup
* 2 lemons or limes
* 10 ml whisky

Preparing the ginger
peel the fresh ginger and cut in cubes 7mm each side, if you use stem ginger in syrup just cut in cubes (keep the syrup),
heat the cubed ginger, add 200ml water a spoon of maple syrup and the brown reetsugar (or top up the syrup with water add the maple syrup and the reetsugar), bring to the boil and keep on low heat until the ginger becomes glazed, take off the heat
add the lime or lemon juice leave to boil for 5 mins and let the syrup and juice reduce to about 20% of the original quantity, allow to cool
you should end up with about 125 gr of ginger cubes

Preparing the confit of orange peel
Peal 3 -4 oranges, oranges for juice have smaller peels then the sugary ones that are sold to eat, peler à vif .
Cut the peal in julienne, 2-3mm think slices, you should have about 250 gr of peels
twice bring to the boil in abt 250 ml of cold water, after 5 mins boiling, strain and put the hot water in a large pot, put the peels in cold water
the third time take about 200 ml of cold water and add the same quantity of sugar, bring the peels to the boil a 3rd time
put on slow heat without boiling to allow to reduce to 20 ml of water ,
allow to cool with the ginger

The oranges
Peel the rest of the oranges à vif and cut the orange flesh from the inner peels, make sure you recover all the juice an the flesh and squeeze all the juice from the inner peels
Use a mixer or blender to liquify for the juice, and leave to macerate for 12 hrs in a covered pot.
put all the peals in the pot with the water used to oil the confit of peels,
add a pinch of salt , bring to boiling point van leave to simmer for 2 or 3 hours.
allow to cool and macerate.

Strain the water off the cooked peels, select about 100g of cooked peels and liquify, with a mixer
mix with the juice and 1/2 of the sugar bring to the boil , add the confit of peel and the ginger with the sugar, add the whisky
allow to simmer slowly around boiling point for 45 mins to an hour

Check jellyfication by putting a spoonful on a plate, if it stiffens while cooling itś ok , if not add more of the jellyfying sugar or mix sugar with pectine, boil for another 10 mins and re check
keep on low heat until the mass is under boiling point, then add gelatine ( gelatine will not stiffen if mixed at boiling point)
leave until maramalade cools to 60 degrees

Put the mixture in glass jars, to about 10mm from the side, screw the lid on tightly and leave to cool upside down
label an enjoy

[FossilHunter]

I haven't had too many different varieties of marmalade so my palate isn't developed with them. How does this compare to Bon Mamon?

[Tobus]

I love it when people make their own jellies! I've done my own mustang grape jelly, cactus jelly, and agarita jelly. I know how much work is involved, and the satisfaction of eating it. Plus sharing it with family and friends. It's a dying art and a shrinking social convention. Kudos to you, sir!

Your method looks like a lot of work, but worth it! You aren't open to selling some, are you?

[Nomad]

Thank you Derek, I'm a fan of marmalade with a bit of bite to it, so I have copied your recipe and may give it a go in the dark and wet months after Hogmanay.

[DerekvG]

I haven't had too many different varieties of marmalade so my palate isn't developed with them. How does this compare to Bon Mamon?

Sugar 50 % of BM. taste explosive versus BM dull.

[huntgathergrow]

I get Mackay's orange marmalade here in Tennessee. It's wonderful and I wish I'd had the opportunity to try marmalade in Scotland when I was there. But, Mackay's is made in Dundee, so I imagine it's close to what is made in homes. However, as a Southerner, I know that good homemade buttermilk biscuits are no where near the same as what Pillsbury puts in a can.

All that to say, I'm quite a fan of orange marmalade.

[Baeau]

I get Mackay's orange marmalade here in Tennessee. It's wonderful and I wish I'd had the opportunity to try marmalade in Scotland when I was there. But, Mackay's is made in Dundee, so I imagine it's close to what is made in homes. However, as a Southerner, I know that good homemade buttermilk biscuits are no where near the same as what Pillsbury puts in a can.

All that to say, I'm quite a fan of orange marmalade.

We can get MacKay, Dundee, Bonne Maman, Wilkin & ?? (can't remember), Dicken's on the other coast. I'm not a Southerner, but I do know good, homemade buttermilk biscuits My Grandmother (b.1906-d.2012),Scottish side, was born in East Texas. Made biscuits to her late 90's, daily. Taught my wife, who can make them as good.

[Tobus]

I'm not a Southerner, but I do know good, homemade buttermilk biscuits My Grandmother (b.1906-d.2012),Scottish side, was born in East Texas. Made biscuits to her late 90's, daily. Taught my wife, who can make them as good.

My wife (native Texan from Waco) makes some killer buttermilk biscuits. She doesn't even measure her ingredients; she just makes 'em from memory. It's one of her womanly skills that took me no time at all to realise I wanted to marry her.

It's also one of the reasons I'm on a diet. Lordy help me, there's nothing better than buttermilk biscuits with plenty of butter. Top 'em with jelly, jam, marmalade, gravy, cheese, I don't care. I'll scarf 'em down like a hog at the trough. She bakes them in a pool of butter so that the bottoms are basically fried. Oh, mama!

[JasonMc]

Thank you Derek, I love marmalade, especially with the balance of bitterness you describe. And the local farmers are just about ready to harvest their bitter Seville oranges and bring to market.