Blood orange marmalade

We had a large sign made for a stall once, which had a photograph of jar of marmalade that was labelled Blood Orange Marmalade. It plagued us, as it was not one of our regular lines but everyone who came to the stall and saw the sign wanted blood orange marmalade.

There was always plenty of Seville or cumquat but no, they wanted blood orange. Did it capture everyone's imagination with the ruby colour or was it just good marketing? Today, I made a batch of this marmalade as blood oranges are in season and I know it is popular.

To make any jam or marmalade there are four important things to remember: quality of fruit, heat, acid and sugar.

The best-quality fruit makes the best jam. The temperature should be hot when cooking marmalade, and setting point is reached at 105 degrees.

A thermometer is not essential, but the jam must be on a fast boil once the sugar has been dissolved.

All jams should have some acid. The pH reading should be somewhere between 3 and 3.5. I know most kitchen drawers do not have this gadget, but you can taste the fruit for tartness. Add lemon juice, especially when the fruit is very ripe.

Many people think they will make their jam with less sugar. If you use less sugar, the reduction and reaching setting point takes much longer and the colour of your jam will be darker and less attractive. You will have to use pectin sugar if the jam is to set - which you can get from the supermarket.

Seville orange is my favourite marmalade because of its tartness. I know many people like blood orange marmalade, although I prefer my blood oranges squeezed and served as a drink with Campari. Seville orange marmalade can be made according to the same recipe.

Blood orange and Campari marmalade

Makes 6 x 300ml jars

1.1kg oranges
2 lt water
juice of 2 lemons
2kg caster sugar
2 tbsp Campari (optional)

Cut off the ends of the oranges and discard. Thinly slice and cover the fruit with two litres of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 1 ½ hours with the lid on or until the rinds are soft. This softens the skins without a lot of evaporation. If the skins are not soft before the sugar is added, the rinds begin to crystallise and become tough in texture and are not translucent.

Bring the fruit and water to the boil; add the lemon juice and sugar. Boil briskly. Use a saucer to test the progress of your jam until the marmalade reaches setting point, which will be about 35 minutes.

Turn off the heat after setting point has been reached. Add the Campari. Allow the marmalade to cool for five minutes, then stir to distribute the fruit evenly. Bottle and seal while still hot in sterilised jars, filling about five millimetres from the rim of the jar. Invert the jars (upside down) for two minutes. Don't forget to turn them over again, or the gap will set at the bottom of the jar.