Bitter Orange Marmalade Recipe

Let's discover the recipe for Bitter Orange Marmalade! Bitter Orange Marmalade is a delicious mix of orange pieces and honey to spread, but it is much more than just a spread!

In this article, we'll delve into the history of bitter orange marmalade, exploring its origins, benefits, and the secrets to making it.

The History of Marmalade

Marmalade, originally from Portugal, is made by cooking citrus juice and zest with sugar and water to create a jam. Today, the term mainly refers to citrus-based jams or a dense preparation where the fruit pieces are not completely gelled. Marmalades can also be made from lemons, limes, grapefruit or tangerines.

At first it wasn't orange, but quince!

As early as ancient times, the Romans and Greeks discovered that slow cooking of quinces with honey hardened the mixture as it cooled. A Roman cookbook gives a recipe for preserving whole quinces, with stems and leaves, by dipping them in a bath of honey.

Making jams was born from the need to preserve the fruit for longer, beyond its harvest period, and thus be able to consume and enjoy it out of season. As there were no refrigeration systems or freezers, the only method to preserve food was to make different types of preserves, such as jam. The first jars of Portuguese marmalada arrived in England in 1495. Very expensive, these quince pastes renowned for their medicinal and aphrodisiac properties were on all banquet tables.

In France, while the term "marmalade" is regularly associated with all types of fruit, a French directive dating from 1979 states that "marmalade" can only be applied to products made from citrus fruits: sweet or bitter oranges, lemons, grapefruits, citrons, mandarins, bergamots, yuzus, etc.

La Miellerie 's bitter orange marmalade is a preparation with pieces of bitter oranges, water, sugar and honey. It is traditionally made in a copper basin. Its manufacturing secret lies in its composition, the honey enhancing the aroma of the orange.

The Origins of Bitter Orange Marmalade

The story of bitter orange marmalade begins with a legend. In the 18th century when a Spanish ship arrived in the port of Dundee, Scotland, seeking shelter from a storm. On board was a consignment of Seville oranges - which a local Dundee grocer decided to buy. When they took them home to his wife, the couple discovered that the oranges were too bitter to eat. The grocer's wife saw the potential in the oranges and so boiled them down with sugar, creating the delicious preserve now known as Dundee orange marmalade. An entire industry resulted from this discovery, and new manufacturers sprang up to meet the worldwide demand for orange marmalade.

But there is good reason to believe that this legend is a fabrication, and that bitter orange marmalade does not actually originate from Scotland! Indeed, according to food historian Ivan Day, one of the earliest known recipes for orange marmalade (similar to what we now call jam) comes from Eliza Cholmondeley's cookbook around 1677. Furthermore, while bitter orange does come from Seville, it was the Scots who popularized its use in marmalade, and who are still fond of it today.

In short, we may never know the truth about bitter orange marmalade, but for now we can just eat it!

Its benefits

Did you know that it is also a food that has beneficial properties for our health? Even though bitter orange marmalade is high in sugar, it provides a whole range of nutritional benefits!

• It is low in calories
• It has a low sodium content
• It provides vitamin C
• It does not contain fat

Now put on your aprons:

Bitter Orange Marmalade Recipe

Ingredients for 6 people:

• 500g bitter oranges
• 1.5L of water
• 1kg of cane sugar
• 1 lemon juice

Preparation :

1. Wash and scrub the oranges under hot water. Dry them. Cut the peel and peel the fruit. Cut the peel into thin strips about 2 mm wide. Cut the flesh into small pieces. Collect the seeds as you go and place them in a piece of sterile gauze or a spice ball.
2. Put everything in a large, thick-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in the water, bring to the boil, then place on the lowest heat on the hob and reduce the heat to minimum. Cover and cook for 2.5 hours, checking from time to time: if the liquid reduces too much, add a little water (1 glass maximum). At the end of cooking, remove the knot and discard the seeds. Leave the contents of the pot at room temperature until the next day (12 hours minimum).
3. The next day, add the lemon juice and sugar, stir to dissolve the latter in the syrup. Cook over medium heat until the marmalade sets: this takes about 40 minutes. The marmalade will take on a nice amber color and the peels will become translucent. Do a cooking test from time to time: pour a spoonful of syrup onto a very cold plate, if the syrup wrinkles when you tilt the plate, stop cooking and put in jars immediately. Close the jars, turn them upside down for a few minutes to sterilize the lids, then turn them upside down again and leave to cool.
4. Note: It is essential to respect a very long preliminary cooking then a rest of 12 hours minimum to reduce the bitterness of the oranges and obtain a balanced flavor, neither too bitter nor too sweet.
5. Wait at least 8 days before consuming this marmalade, it will be even tastier. It can be kept for 1 year in a dark, cool and dry place.

Enjoy!

The recipe for bitter orange marmalade cake

To enjoy bitter orange marmalade, you can of course toast it, which is probably the most familiar, simple and quick use. But marmalade is also a versatile food that can be found in sauces, smothered on duck and in puddings, in pastries or in ice creams.

Here, we offer you a cake recipe, to enjoy for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert!

Ingredients for 8 people:

• 200g of soft butter
• 180g brown sugar
• 6 heaped tablespoons of your bitter orange marmalade
• 4 beaten eggs
• 200g organic flour
• 1 sachet of yeast
• 50g almond powder
• The zest and juice of 2 oranges
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation :

1. Mix the butter and sugar until you have a smooth cream. Add 3 tablespoons of bitter orange marmalade and then the beaten eggs. Pour in the sifted flour and yeast, the almond powder, the salt and the zest and juice of the two oranges.
2. Place the dough in a previously buttered mold and bake for 50 min at 180°C. Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack.
3. Heat the remaining bitter orange marmalade with a little water over low heat. Brush the cake with this mixture and leave to cool.

Enjoy your meal!

Now that you know all about marmalade, we hope that your next breakfast or tea-time will be enhanced with this jam, whether you spread it on warm scones (English style) or incorporate it into a pastry, like this delicious cake for which we offer you the recipe. To be enjoyed without moderation!

Want to see more recipes with orange? Check out orange honey gingerbread !

La Miellerie's bitter orange marmalade is a preparation with pieces of bitter oranges, water, sugar and honey. Our jams are all more delicious than each other, made in France, they are cooked in a copper basin in order to find all the authenticity of the fruits and their flavors. They come in several flavors such as strawberry, blueberry, blackberry... in order to satisfy all gourmets, young and old!