Mary Berry’s marmalade is a classic Seville orange marmalade made with just four ingredients: Seville oranges, sugar, lemon juice and water. It makes 2.7kg (about 6lb), enough for a cupboard of jars, and keeps for up to 6 months.
The recipe comes from The Complete AGA Cookbook (2015), where Berry cooks the whole oranges until soft before cutting them. She says this makes it “so much easier to cut up the fruit after the peel is cooked,” instead of slicing hard raw peel. For a conventional kitchen, she simply says to cook it “on the hob in the usual way.”
What gives this marmalade its set is the liquid. Berry boils the pips and pith in the orange water, then strains it, because “this thicker liquid is high in pectin and helps to give the marmalade a good set.” It must measure 1.3 litres before the sugar goes in, so reduce it if there’s more.
Mary Berry Marmalade Recipe
Course: SidesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy6
servings45
minutes2
hours30
minutes300
kcal3
hours15
minutesA whole-fruit Seville marmalade from Berry’s Complete AGA Cookbook (2015). The oranges are softened whole, so the peel cuts like butter. It’s a good January project, when Seville oranges are in the shops for only a few weeks.
Ingredients
Directions
- Start the fruit: Put the sugar somewhere warm to take the chill off it. Put the whole oranges and the lemon juice in a large pan and cover with the water. If the water doesn’t cover the oranges, use a smaller pan, or weight them down with a heatproof plate. Bring to the boil and cover.
- Soften and scoop: Simmer, covered, until the oranges are tender, checking after 2 hours. Lift the fruit into a colander set on a deep plate, keeping the liquid in the pan, and let it cool enough to handle. Halve the oranges, scoop out all the pips and pith and add them to the liquid. Boil this for 6 minutes with the lid off.
- Strain for pectin: Strain the liquid through a sieve, pressing the pulp through with a wooden spoon, into a preserving pan. It should measure 1.3 litres (2¼ pints) at this stage, so reduce it if necessary.
- Boil to set: Cut the peel as thin as you like with a sharp knife. Add it to the liquid with the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil rapidly for 8 to 10 minutes, until setting point is reached. Leave in the pan for 10 minutes to cool a little, then pot, seal and label.
Notes
- (AGA): Warm the sugar at the back of the Aga. Soften the oranges in the Simmering Oven, dissolve the sugar on the Simmering Plate, and boil on the Boiling Plate.
FAQs
How do I know when marmalade has reached setting point?
Berry gives three tests. A thermometer in the centre of the pan should read 105°C. A spoonful left to cool should fall from the spoon in a “flake” or large droplet. Or a spoonful left to go cold on a cold saucer should form “a wrinkled skin when a finger is pushed through.” If it hasn’t set, she boils it for another 2 to 5 minutes and tests again.
Why does the marmalade cool for 10 minutes before potting?
So the peel stays evenly spread through each jar. Berry explains that cooling “ensure[s] that fruit does not float to the top of the jar,” because the marmalade thickens slightly as it cools and holds the shreds in place. Pot it while it’s still hot enough to pour, so the jars seal properly.
Which sugar should I use?
Berry says granulated sugar is fine and economical, but you must stir constantly while it dissolves, or it “forms a dense layer, prone to burn, on the bottom of the pan.” Preserving sugar costs more but needs less stirring and gives less scum. She recommends it for “any special jam and marmalade you are making.”
Can I make dark, ginger or whisky marmalade from this recipe?
Yes, Berry gives all three as variations. For dark marmalade, swap 225g (8oz) of the sugar for dark muscovado. For ginger, add 225g (8oz) chopped preserved ginger once the sugar has dissolved. For whisky, stir in 8 tablespoons of whisky just before potting.
How long does homemade marmalade keep?
Berry says it keeps for up to 6 months in a cool place. Store it somewhere dark, away from the cooker, and keep an opened jar in the fridge. If you love homemade preserves, her lemon curd is a quicker make, though it doesn’t keep nearly as long.
What should I serve it with?
Hot buttered toast is the classic, and Berry suggests toast for “a delicious homemade breakfast.” It’s also very good on her wholemeal scones in place of jam. On her buttermilk and sultana scones, the bitter orange cuts through the sweet fruit.
