Pink grapefruit and lemon marmalade

Since it is marmalade season I thought it would be nice to feature a lovely pink grapefruit and lemon marmalade I spotted in my Avoca cookbook.

I particularly love this recipe as you can make it any time of year since lemons and grapefruits are available all year round  unlike the Seville oranges which are around for a very short time in January.

What you’ll need:

1lb of unwaxed lemons

2 large pink grapefruits

3lbs of organic caster sugar (it does not have to be organic use whatever you have)

4 pints of Water

Muslin

Juicer

Sharp knife

Preserving pan

Long wooden spoon

Thermometer  or use a cold plate to test set

Vegetable peeler.

There are hundreds of ways to make marmalade, in fact I never use the same recipe twice! However I will be using this recipe again as it is so simple and actually pretty quick to make considering it is marmalade.

How to make:

Wash your fruit

1.Peel the lemons and grapefruit as thinly as you can with a peeler, with a sharp knife remove whatever white pith you can. Slice the peel as fine or thick as you prefer. I like a medium cut.

2. Juice the fruit with a juicer and reserve the pips for you pectin. Put the sliced peel in a preserving pan with the water and the juice and fruit pulp. Slice the pith with a sharp knife, you will need this for you muslin bag.

3. Put your pips and pith in your muslin and tie it so it’s a secure little bag, add it to the liquid.

4. Heat up your pan and let the mix simmer for 1.5-2hrs or until the liquid has reduced to half. My liquid measured 5 pints with the water and juice/pulp combined so I turned off the heat once it hit just under 3 pints.

I left the mix overnight so there was plenty of pectin in the liquid for a set.

The next morning:

1.Reheat you liquid and heat your sugar gently in the oven. Once warm add the sugar to the hot liquid and stir it to make sure it dissolves properly. This is important as it can crystallise if not dissolved fully.

2. I use a thermometer to check for jam set temp, once it reaches temperature let it boil until it is set. To make sure it has set I chill plates in my freezer pour a tea spoon of the mix onto the plate. Leave it for 2 mins and if it wrinkles when you touch it, it is set.

3. Pour into your heated sterilised jars, your done!