Three Fruit Marmalade

As a child I always thought marmalade to be the grown up version of jam, and I still feel the same way! It is only in recent years that I have begun to appreciate this preserve. Here is a beautiful recipe using three fruits - grapefruit, orange and lemon. It is slightly messy and time consuming to prepare the fruit but it is an easy recipe and a great way to pass some time should you wish to stay indoors. It is a soft set but not runny.

Ingredients

1 grapefruit
1 orange
2 lemons
3lbs granulated sugar
3 pints water

Method

Place a saucer in the fridge - this will be used later to test if the marmalade has set

Half all fruits and squeeze into a large saucepan, adding some of the soft flesh.

Scoop out everything (membrane, pith and seeds) from the skins of the fruit and place in a piece of muslin and tie into a bag. I used a piece of clean net curtain in the absence of muslin and it worked perfectly. If removing the flesh is difficult, try cutting it from the skin.

Blitz the skins in a food processor (or chop finely by hand) and add to the saucepan of juice.

Place the muslin bag into the saucepan and add the three pints of water.




Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 1.5 hours and until the peel is soft.


Squeeze as much juice as possible from the muslin bag.





Add the sugar gradually until dissolved and then boil rapidly for 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking.

To test if the marmalade will set, put a blob of the mix on the chilled saucer and push with your finger. If the top wrinkles, the marmalade is ready to pot. If not, boil for a further five minutes and check again.

Fill your sterilised jars and seal.

The photo below is a double batch, middle jars being your standard sized jam jars: