Flowers, Birthdays & Making Merry!

Seville Orange “Merry” Marmalade

Just a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to one of Vivien Lloyd’s Marmalade Day workshops at her home in Somerset; as well as attending marmalade day, I was also invited to Viv’s 60th birthday dinner the night before, where all the guests were treated to some excellent food and wine in one of the beautiful private dining rooms in The Pig Hotel.

I stayed in The Old Parsonage Bed and Breakfast for the night, in a large en-suite room which boasted a Four Poster bed with beautiful furnishings – the breakfast next morning was superb with all the ingredients being sourced locally, and was a wonderful way to set me up for the day ahead, and I plan to return the hotel next time I am in the area.

We all (obviously) made merry at Viv’s birthday dinner, and as well as the excellent company and food, the room was decorated with exquisite bespoke flower arrangements…….all of the posies were in vintage jam jars and, crab apples and citrus fruits adorned the tables, it was very befitting for a wonderful lady whom I call the “Jam Mistress” or the “Marmalade Queen”

But back to the workshop, which was held next morning in Viv’s bright and cheerful kitchen; there were three of us there, my good friend Sue (from a little bit of heaven on a plate) and Jennifer (from Gustia). Viv’s courses aren’t just about preserving, and she offers all refreshments and a delicious home-cooked lunch included in the price……we were treated to vegetarian lasagne, salad, garlic bread and rum babas for dessert.

We were given our individual instructions and began to chop and shred the fruit; Viv introduced us to the amazing organic Seville oranges from Ave Maria farm in Sevilla, Spain, and it was these flavourful oranges that we used for our three marmalade recipes of the day: Lemon and Ginger Marmalade, Seville Orange Merry Marmalade (with gin) and Seville Marmalade Jelly.

You can see some of my previous marmalade posts here:  Make Award Winning Marmalade: Marmalade Workshop with Vivien Lloyd , Award Winning Marmalade: Traditional Lemon and Lime Marmalade Recipe, Recipe: Pink Grapefruit Marmalade and The Lavender & Lovage Marmalade Awards Results and The Marmalade Awards, Paddington Bear, Three Fruit Marmalade Recipe. It’s true to say that I am a bit of a marmalade making addict!

The recipe that I am sharing with you today is for Viv’s Seville Orange Merry Marmalade, and the step-by-step instructions are shown below, as well as a printable recipe. It’s a fabulous recipe that takes full advantage of seasonal Seville oranges with a generous slug of your favourite tipple to start the day with a bang! Although I love whisky in marmalade, and vodka is also good when added to lime marmalade in particular, but it was “Mother’s Ruin” aka Gin that I decided to add this time.

The recipe is featured below in photos, and then a printable version follows on at the end of this post, reproduced with kind permission from Vivien Lloyd. Do let me know if you need any guidance when making this recipe, and also I’d love to hear from those of you who make this lovely marmalade recipe. Karen 

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend a marmalade workshop by Vivien Lloyd free of charge; I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. With thanks to Vivien and her husband Nigel for their generosity. Karen S Burns-Booth

Seville Merry Marmalade

(Makes around 2.25kg)

This marmalade combines a spirit of your choice, gin, whisky, rum or brandy with Seville oranges. For the best flavour select organic oranges and a good quality spirit.

Ingredients:

675g Seville oranges
1 Lemon
1.4kg granulated, cane sugar
1.75 litres water.
75ml gin, whisky, rum or brandy

Method:

1. Cut the oranges in half.

2. Juice the oranges (and lemon). Pour the juice with the water into a large, lidded pan with a capacity of 6-8 litres.

3. Scrape out the inner membranes and pips from the fruit with a small sharp knife. Put the membranes from the oranges and the remains of the lemon into a food processor or mini-chopper and chop finely. Place these and any pips into a 30 cm x 30cm piece of thin cotton muslin.

4.   Shred the peel…….

5….. and add it to the pan with the water and juice with the muslin bag of flesh and pips. If possible, leave the pan overnight to allow the fruit to soak.

6. Next day, bring the lidded pan to boil, turn down the heat and simmer very gently for two hours. The peel should be very tender, and the volume in the pan reduced by a third. Warm the sugar in a low oven, 140℃ /275℉/Gas 1

7. Remove the lid from the pan and set aside. Lift up the muslin bag and squeeze the liquid from the bag back into the pan through a sieve, using a large spoon.

8. Add the sugar to the pan and stir until dissolved.

9. Gradually bring the pan to a rolling boil and test for a set after 7 minutes, using the flake test.

10. Dip a large spoon into the pan and scoop out a spoonful. Lift the spoon above the pan and turn it horizontally. If the marmalade has reached setting point of 104.5℃ ( 220℉) it will drip then hang on the side of the spoon.

11. Leave the marmalade to cool for 10 minutes, a skin should have formed on the surface. Remove any scum from the surface with a large metal spoon. Add the spirit of your choice to the pan.Gently stir the marmalade to distribute the peel and the alcohol.

12. Pour the marmalade into clean, warm sterilised jars, cover and seal with new twist top lids.

13. Leave the jars upright and undisturbed to set.

14. EAT and enjoy!

Seville Orange “Merry Marmalade”

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves	Makes around 2.25kg
Prep time	25 hours, 30 minutes
Cook time	2 hours, 7 minutes
Total time	27 hours, 37 minutes
Dietary	Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Meal type	Breakfast, Condiment, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Region	British
By author	Vivien Lloyd

This marmalade combines a spirit of your choice, gin, whisky, rum or brandy with Seville oranges. For the best flavour select organic oranges and a good quality spirit.

Ingredients

• 675g Seville oranges (cut in half)
• 1 Lemon
• 1.4kg granulated, cane sugar
• 1.75 litres water
• 75ml gin, whisky, rum or brandy

Note

This marmalade combines a spirit of your choice, gin, whisky, rum or brandy with Seville oranges. For the best flavour select organic oranges and a good quality spirit.

Directions

Step 1	Juice the oranges and lemons. Pour the juice with the water into a large, lidded pan with a capacity of 6-8 litres. Scrape out the inner membranes and pips from the fruit with a small sharp knife.
Step 2	Put the membranes from the oranges and the remains if the lemon into a food processor or mini-chopper and chop finely. Place these and any pips into a 30 cm x 30 cm piece of thin cotton muslin. Tie this up with string and add it to the pan. Shred the peel and add it to the pan; finely shredded peel releases the maximum amount of pectin. If possible, leave the pan overnight to allow the fruit to soak.
Step 3	Next day, bring the lidded pan to boil, turn down the heat and simmer very gently for two hours. The peel should be very tender, and the volume in the pan reduced by a third. Warm the sugar in a low oven, 140℃ /275℉/Gas 1.
Step 4	Remove the lid from the pan and set aside. Lift up the muslin bag and squeeze the liquid from the bag back into the pan through a sieve, using a large spoon.
Step 5	Add the sugar to the pan and stir until dissolved. Gradually bring the pan to a rolling boil and test for a set after 7 minutes, using the flake test. Dip a large spoon into the pan and scoop out a spoonful. Lift the spoon above the pan and turn it horizontally. If the marmalade has reached setting point of 104.5℃ ( 220℉) it will drip then hang on the side of the spoon.
Step 6	Leave the marmalade to cool for 10 minutes, a skin should have formed on the surface. Remove any scum from the surface with a large metal spoon. Add the spirit of your choice to the pan.Gently stir the marmalade to distribute the peel and the alcohol.
Step 7	Pour the marmalade into clean, warm sterilised jars, cover and seal with new twist top lids. Leave the jars upright and undisturbed to set.

As this marmalade is perfect ON TOAST, I am entering it into Tea Time Treats for February where the theme is Toast, On Toast and Toasties. It’s my turn to host Tea Time Treats this month, but watch out for Jane’s new challenge next month!