At the farmers market last Sunday out here in Goleta there is a farm stand that sell oranges and other citrus all the way at the very far end of the market. Because I live in a community that has about forty orange and citrus trees I usually do a loop back the other way before I get to his stand. I decided Sunday to just go take a peek at what varieties of oranges he had brought. He had the usual naval and a ton of Satsuma which also grow in my neighborhood. But there on the very end nestled in a small bin were the shining light of my love for canning these days, blood oranges. This variety I had not seen before in that they were a big larger and the skin was very orange with not much red striations to them. The only way that I knew they were blood was that the farmer had cut one in half to expose the color. Now like I said this was a different variety as it wasn't red all the way through. As you can see from the bowl these five blood oranges that I dice for this recipe were a fire of yellow, reds and orange.
I knew that this was going to be a fantastic and colorful marmalade in the jar and wanted to do a bit different recipe to change up the spice to marry with the sweetness. Here is the recipe and the process I used to get this gorgeous fruit into jars. Also, I have taken some advice and started using organic cane sugar in my jams and pickling which hasn't changed the flavors but I know its in there. You can use regular sugar in the same quantity as I have not noticed a difference in the sweetness in the overall flavor and gel point.
Spiced Blood Orange Marmalade
5 medium Blood oranges - 2 cups diced
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups cane sugar (regular sugar works too)
10 whole cloves
Begin by cutting away the rind of the orange and dicing the meat of the orange into small pieces (see above). Set aside the diced orange and put the rind in a small dutch oven with the water and cloves.
Note: Usually I trim the rind with a vegetable peeler dice it in thin strips, but I decided not to add the rind this time to the recipe. This time you will use it to infuse the peel which has pectin in it.
On medium heat cook the rind and cloves for 20 minutes on a medium simmer. Stir occasionally.
After the 20 minutes strain the liquid using a strainer into a bowl and return only the liquid back to the pot and back on with a low flame. Add the diced oranges and sugar. Bring the flame up to medium again and cook for about 20 minute till the mixtures is boiling. Use your candy thermometer to get the recipe to 220 degrees or use the gel point plate trick (see gel point in the label section) to get the recipe to the desired consistency.
Sterilize 2 half pint jars and ladle into jars clean the rims, add the lid and rings, and waterbath for 10 minutes.
The results are a beautiful and yummy marmalade with such great flavor from the cloves. Enjoy
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