I think I overcooked it

Tweet

Yesterday I finally got around to making marmalade from the oranges I bought a week ago. I cooked the oranges already, but then needed plenty of time for the next stage so yesterday morning I tied on my apron and got to work. To cut a long story short, it seemed that the marmalade wasn’t going to set, so I kept on boiling it until it did finally show the right signs. Of course boiling evaporates some of the liquid – that’s the point – and when it cools it becomes more solid anyway. I don’t know how I got it wrong, I tested it in the usual way, but I normally make a much lighter, soft-set kind of marmalade. So the result was that it’s much thicker and darker than usual. It still tastes great but it’s so stiff it doesn’t move if I hold the jars upside down, and there’s far more peel per jar and less jelly. There’s also less marmalade than I expected, I guess that’s why the thick dark variety is more expensive to buy in the shops! I thought I would have enough to last at least a couple of years but now I’m not so sure. If I see any more oranges I might have another go. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2025.