Ma's Pressure Cooker Marmalade

I had never made marmalade before and it just seemed like something I should learn how to do, so I persuaded my mum to teach me and it turns out that she uses a pressure cooker to help speed up the process. Now I've never used a pressure cooker either and it turns out they are pretty useful and if I had a bigger kitchen I would definitely be getting one right now!

Her recipe is based on the one that her mother used to use from Farmhouse Kitchen by the wonderfully named Dorothy Sleighthome. She has tweaked it about over the years and based on the appreciative noises coming from Joe as he ate it on toast this morning this marmalade is pretty damn good.

Seville Orange Marmalade

2lbs Seville oranges
2 lemons
water
4lb sugar

We made this in a pressure cooker as mentioned above so this is a pressure cooker recipe. I'm sure you can prepare the fruit as normal but if you were going to you'd probably want a different recipe. So when it's next Seville orange time I shall try some out. We also used a big preserving pan and had about 9 or 10 jam jars and lids sterilised and warm and ready to go. You will also need a scalded muslin for the pips and a funnel and ladle for putting the marmalade in the jars.

1. Scrub the oranges if you want, we didn't, and cut in half. Remove the pips and put them in scalded muslin.

Pips in muslin - we didn't have muslin so used Daddy's handkerchief

2. Squeeze the juice from the oranges into the pressure cooker and finely slice the orange to the thickness you like your marmalade to be. We like ours quite fine.

Sliced oranges in pressure cooker

3. Squeeze the juice from the lemons into a measuring jug and add water to make it up to 2 pints. Strain through a nylon strainer into the pressure cooker with the oranges.

4. Tie the muslin bag tightly and add to the pressure cooker.

5. Place the lid on and bring to pressure. Place a 10lb valve weight on top or wait until the second red line appears on pressure indicator stem - depending on the age of your cooker - and cook for 10 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat and leave until the pressure is reduced and you are able to remove the lid (this took about 20 mins).

Cooling after cooking

7. Do a pectin test - we used 3 tsp of methylated spirits in a cup. Drop 1 tsp of the orange liquid in, gently shake and leave for 1 minute. If it forms a firm clot then it is ready for the sugar. If it is stringy, bring the contents of the pan to the boil with the lid off and boil for a few minutes and test again.

8. Remove the bag of pips and squeeze the juice from it. Transfer the marmalade to a preserving pan - it's easier to mix in the sugar with the larger preserving pan.

9. Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.

10. Put on the heat, bring to a rolling boil, and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent any burning on the bottom, and keep an eye out for any stray pips floating to the top.

11. If using a thermometer check for setting point - 220F. Keep boiling until setting point is reached - we tested ours on a cold plate (see my jam's page for method).

Waiting for right temperature to be reached

12. When setting point is reached remove from the heat and leave to cool for 15-20 minutes. Then, using a funnel and a ladle, transfer the marmalade to the warm, sterilised jars.

13. Cover with was discs and leave to cool completely before putting the lids on.

Finished marmalade!

Blackberry and Crabapple Jelly

For years I have been boring my family about going to pick blackberries - I'm always desperate to and then it just never happens for whatever reason. This year I dragged Joe and four over-excited Jack Russells out to the hedgerows near my mother's house and finally managed to get some blackberries to take home and make something with. I thought it was going to be jam... but then Joe found some crab apples and it turned into jelly.

I've always wanted to buy a jelly strainer but never did and so had a mini melt down at 9pm on the Sunday when I finally decided to start making jelly. Luckily my husband managed to rig me one up using a muslin and the cupboard handles but I now think I really should get one for any future jelly emergencies!

This was pretty easy to do - the setting point is the only nervewracking bit. For more info on jams and jellies I've created a whole page for them so you can have a look at that if you are having trouble.

Blackberry and Crab apple Jelly

Filled about 3 x 1lb jam jars

1kg blackberries
1kg crab apples
700-900g granulated sugar

Now if you have a jelly strainer then you will need that with a clean scorched muslin. If you don't then you need to rig one up. I used my largest saucepan for this and had a measuring jug under the muslin for the fruit juice to drip into. You will needed sterilised jars and lids and a ladle is handy unless you are clever and have a pan with a spout.

1. Remove all the stalks and any really yucky bits from the blackberries.

2. Remove the stalks from the crab apples and wash them if necessary, then chop them roughly - leaving the peel on and the core in.

3. Put in a large saucepan with 1.2 litres of water, bring slowly to simmering point and then simmer until the fruit is soft and pulpy. I think this took  around 40 mins for me.

4. Remove from the heat and pour into the prepared muslin/jelly strainer. Leave it to drip through overnight - resist all temptation to squeeze the fruit through as this will make the jelly cloudy.

5. The next day measure the juice - I had 1 litre - and for every 600ml of juice use 450g sugar.

6. Put the juice into a large pan and bring to the boil - as it begins to boil add the sugar and stir until it is all dissolved. Then boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until it has reached setting point - I used a jam thermometer but you can use other methods which I'll put on my Kitchen Tips page - there's a Jams and Jellies section.

7. Skim the jelly and ladle into jars and seal as quickly as possible. Use within 12 months.