Preserve It! Sunshine in a jar

While Seville oranges are the classic citrus fruit to make marmalade, there are many safe, tested recipes using various citrus fruits. This is an invitation to make a batch (or two) of marmalade with three different citruses: grapefruit, orange and lemon. Citrus has natural pectin in the peel, thus creating a soft fruit jelly with small pieces of fruit and peel suspended in that jelly.

There are a couple Master Food Preservers who are known for their marmalades. With the El Dorado County Fair only four months away, let’s give them some keen competition by making a marmalade and entering your efforts in May. This recipe comes from “So Easy to Preserve,” 2020.

Citrus marmalade

Makes 3 or 4 half-pint jars

3/4 cup grapefruit peel (from 1/2 grapefruit)

3/4 cup orange peel (1 orange)

1/3 cup lemon peel (1 lemon)

1 quart cold water

Pulp of 1 grapefruit

Pulp of 4 medium-sized oranges

2 cups boiling water

3 cups sugar

To prepare fruit: Wash and peel fruit. When peeling citrus fruits for marmalades, be sure to include some of the white, spongy membrane (albedo) found just under the skin. This is where the most pectin is located. Cut peel in thin strips; put into a saucepan. Add cold water and simmer, covered, until tender (about 30 minutes). Drain.

Remove seeds and membrane from peeled fruit. Called “supreming,” this technique removes the membrane from citrus fruit so it can be served in sections. The result is no rind, no pith, just sections (carpels) of fruit. Cut fruit into small pieces.

To make marmalade: Prepare canner, jars and lids. Sterilize jars for 10 minutes and keep hot.

Combine peel and fruit in a saucepan, add boiling water and sugar. Boil rapidly to 8 degrees F above the boiling point of water (212 degrees F at sea level), stirring frequently. Remove from heat; skim. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. 

Place jars in boiling water canner, ensuring they are completely covered with one inch of water. Bring to a boil and process 5 minutes*. Remove the canner lid. Wait for 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool 12 to 24 hours, label and store.

*The processing times given for processing jellied fruit products are for processing at altitudes of less than 1,000 feet. Add 1 minute to the processing time for each 1,000-feet of additional altitude.

Join the UC Master Food Preservers for Ask a UC Master Food Preserver online via Zoom on Wednesday, Feb. 14, for a general Q&A session. Registration is required. Learn about this and other events at ucanr.edu/sites/mfp_of_cs/Classes_-_Events/Calendar_of_Events. 

Do you have a question for the UCCE Master Food Preservers of  El Dorado County? Ask a Master Food Preserver with this link: ucanr.edu/sites/mfp_of_cs/Ask_a_Master_Food_Preserver or call the UCCE Master Food Preserver Helpline at (530) 621-5506 and leave a detailed message.