Blood Orange Marmalade

Ohhhh my goodness do I have a story to tell you with this one…

I was working throughout March, very diligently on my Daring Bakers‘ March challenge: Orange Tian.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

And what a gorgeous dessert it would be: a pate sablee crust, spread with marmalade, then with stabilized whipped cream, and topped with orange-caramel soaked orange segments.  But alas, for me it was not to be.  So I have lovely marmalade, and some pate sablee dough in my fridge.  The remaining disasters (scorching my dutch oven, shattering a new glass bottle of fair trade organic vanilla, turning whipped cream into sweet butter because I attempted to stabilize it with vegetarian gelatin) became so much that I knew it was smarter to quit.  (One day, I will go back for another crack at the tian — but this month, it was not meant to be.)

So you get the recipe for Blood Orange Marmalade.  I know you’ll love it, as I’ve been eating way more toast around here just to get some more marmalade into my diet.

Blood Orange Marmalade

Inspired by Intellectual Relish’s Blood Orange Hibiscus Marmalade, makes about 4 cups

• 6 blood oranges
• 4-6 cups sugar
• 4-5 cups water

Scrub the oranges well, and peel them.  Set the peels aside, and supreme the oranges into beautiful, pith-free segments.  Squeeze the remaining juice out of the membranes, reserve the juice and discard the membranes.

Slice the peel thinly.  I quite like large strips of fruit in my marmalade, so I didn’t slice it as thinly, do what suits your tastes best.

In a large pot, cover the orange peels with water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for ten minutes, then discard the liquid, keeping the peel.  Repeat this process, bringing the water to a boil and simmering for another ten minutes.  Drain the peel once more.

Add the orange segments and reserved juice to the peel, cover with 4-5 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Measure the amount of the cooked fruit/peel mixture you now have (in cups), and add an equal volume (in cups) of sugar.  Over medium heat, bring marmalade to a boil, stirring constantly.  Continue to cook until it is jelled, stirring constantly, about 40 minutes.  You can test the process by keeping a plate in the fridge.  When you drop a bit of marmalade onto the cold plate, it will set in seconds if it is jelled enough.

Remove from the heat, and let cool before placing in mason jars.  Admire the gorgeous colour from the blood oranges and congratulate yourself for making marmalade!

Note: We are not canning this recipe, so it needs to be eaten soon, rather than stored for the season.  Give some away to friends, and enjoy it on toast!