Oranges are not the only fruit – Lucy Deedes' recipes for marmalade (2024)

Reduced-sugar marmalade

Weigh all the fruit and note the total weight. Wash the fruit, then quarter the lemon, grapefruit and lime, and cut into fine slices. Seville oranges are too full of pips to treat in the same way, so halve and juice them instead, putting the juice in a pan and any pips and membranes in a muslin bag. Cut the halved, juiced Seville shells in half again and, if the white pith is very thick, shave some away and add to the muslin bag. Don’t cut it all off – pith is vital to achieve a set and give that unique bitter taste. Add any cut away pith to the muslin bag.

Put all the fruit shreds into the pan with the juice and add the muslin bag of offcuts and bay leaf. Weigh out 2.3 times water to the original weight of the whole fruit, add to the pan and leave to soak overnight.

The next day, bring the pan to a boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about two hours, until the peel is soft. Remove from the heat and leave for another 24 hours, if possible.

Remove and discard the bay leaf and muslin bag and measure the volume of pulp remaining. For every 100ml pulp, add 50g sugar to the pan along with the lemon juice, and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves.

Turn up to full heat and boil fast until it reaches setting point, at 105C, or use the “wrinkle test” – that is, put a saucer in the fridge to chill, put a spoonful of marmalade on it, leave for a minute and see if it wrinkles when you push your finger through it; if not, carry on cooking the marmalade and test again until it reaches setting point. Remove from the heat, leave to settle for 15-20 minutes, then pot into warm, sterilised jars, seal and leave to cool before storing.

Orange drizzle cake

Prep 30 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 10

2 oranges
200g butter, at room temperature
200g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
200g self-raising flour
40g ground almonds
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 large tbsp marmalade, shreds roughly chopped

For the drizzle
4 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp water

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line it with baking paper.

Cut one orange into thin rounds and lay these neatly in a single layer over the base of the prepared tin.

Cream the butter and sugar in a food mixer. Mix in the beaten egg a third at a time, and stir in a spoonful of the flour if it threatens to curdle. Sift in the flour and ground almonds, mix until smooth, then grate in the zest of the remaining orange and add a squeeze of its juice (keep the rest of the juice for the drizzle). Stir in the rosemary and marmalade.

Spoon the mixture into the tin, being careful not to dislodge the orange slices on the base, then bake for 30-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool in its tin for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the drizzle. In a small pan, warm the remaining orange juice, sugar and water over a medium heat, and stir until the liquid turns into a syrup.

Turn the cake out on to a plate, prick holes all over the top with a skewer and pour over the syrup. Leave for a few minutes for the syrup to sink in, then serve warm as a pudding, with cream or ice-cream. Once cold, eat as cake.

Chocolate and marmalade tart

Prep 20 min, plus chilling
Cook 45 min
Serves 10

For the pastry
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold butter, diced
80g caster sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten

For the filling
3 heaped tbsp marmalade
85g butter
250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
1 tsp orange extract
400ml double cream

To decorate (optional)
1 tbsp candied Seville orange peel, chopped (or 1 tbsp hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts, chopped)

To make the pastry, mix the flour and butter in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and egg yolk, and whizz briefly until the mix balls up into a dough. Wrap the dough loosely and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and put a baking sheet on the top shelf to heat up.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 3-4mm thick (about the thickness of a pound coin), then use this to line a 24cm fluted, loose-bottomed tart tin, pushing the pastry into the corners. Prick the base all over with a fork and leave any pastry overhang to trim off later. Line the inside of the pastry case with baking paper, fill with baking beans or rice, then chill for 10 minutes.

Put the tart tin on the heated baking sheet and blind bake for 15 minutes. Lift out the paper and beans and bake for five minutes more, until pale brown, then remove and leave to cool.

Separate the marmalade peel from the syrup, chop it finely, then scatter all over the base of the cooled pastry case.

Melt the butter in a small pan over a gentle heat, then add the chocolate, marmalade syrup and orange extract, and stir until melted and smooth. Heat the cream in a separate pan until almost boiling (do not let it boil or it will split), then pour into the chocolate mixture and keep stirring until smooth.

Trim off any overhang from the pastry case, then pour in the filling and leave to cool and set completely. If you like, decorate with pieces of chopped candied orange or chopped nuts. Cut with a warm knife and serve with single cream.