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Grapefruit Marmalade sealed

Gilly’s Pantry low sugar Orange and Grapefruit Marmalade

This recipe can be made larger if you want to. The ingredients below make almost 2 kg of marmalade, which I find is the most I can make in my large pot, but if you have a giant jam pot you may be able to make more… and also lucky you, I would love a jam pot. But the tiny kitchen does not allow for such luxuries.

Keyword snack, jam
Author Gilly Nash

Ingredients

  • 1.2 KG fresh juicy oranges
  • 600 g Raw Sugar
  • 200 ml good quality pure grapefruit juice

Instructions

  1. So first things first. Wash your oranges in hot water. No one likes dirty fruit. Dry them off and prepare yourself a workspace with the following. A large chopping board, a box grater, a sharp knife, a blender and a big pot.
    Grapefruit Marmalade setup

  2. Add 600g raw sugar and 200ml pure grapefruit juice to your pot.

    Grapefruit Marmalade pulp

  3. Grate the rind off all the oranges. Nice thick bits of rind are just the best ever in marmalade. Then add the rind into the pot too.

  4. Step 3 – Use a sharp knife to remove the pith, or the whites, of the oranges. Don’t be pedantic here, just roughly remove what you can. Dispose of the pith.
  5. Step 4 – Roughly chop your oranges and then blend them until they are like a thick orange smoothie.
  6. Step 5 – Add the orange smoothie to the pot and turn on the heat to almost full.
  7. Step 6 – STIR STIR STIR. You don’t want the sugar to burn before it melts, so keep stirring for a good ten minutes until it’s a big pot of bubbling liquid orange.
    Grapefruit Marmalade rines
  8. Step 7 – Turn the heat down until the pot is simmering and leave it to simmer for a good hour.
  9. Step 8 – As the marmalade simmers a white frothy scum will appear on the top, remove this with a slotted spoon.
    Grapefruit Marmalade froth
  10. Step 9 – Wash about 6 – 8 jars in hot soapy water, rinse in clean cold water and place them in an oven dish. Put them in the oven and then heat until 150 degrees, leave them in there for 30 minutes. By which time your marmalade should be ready.
    Grapefruit Marmalade jars
  11. Step 10 – Remove your jars from the oven, take care they are ultra-hot. And fill them with your boiling jam. This can be tricky. I find the easiest way is to use a small jug to transfer the marmalade from the pot to the jars. Fill the jars to about 1-2 cm from the top.
    Grapefruit Marmalade filling jars
  12. Step 10 – Cover the jars with a square of baking paper and put the lids on tight. The wee square of paper is important, it stops water condensation on the surface. (Condensed water would dissolve sugar, producing an area of low sugar concentration and allowing mould growth.)
    Grapefruit Marmalade sealed
  13. Step 10 – Allow to cool in the sealed jars.
    Grapefruit Marmalade upside down
  14. Step 11 – Cut yourself a thick slice of fresh bread, spread with butter, and enjoy your own home made, low sugar, absolutely delicious marmalade.

Recipe Notes

Just a couple of last thing to note… as the marmalade is not high in sugar it doesn’t set quite as solidly as ones you buy in the supermarket. Don’t worry! That’s fine. It will be a thick jammy consistency. Yum.

Store in the fridge and it will last a year.