My marmalade looks like marmite!

allIcouldwishfor

Hi all,

I've just made marmalade for the first time ever, although I've made jams and chutneys before.

But - my marmalade is (almost) black! :eek: It doesn't look like marmalade at all. I followed the Delia recipe where you cook up the whole oranges beforehand. The only deviation from the recipe was that I used some light brown sugar (about 20%) as I ran out of normal sugar and I did the whole oranges overnight in the slow cooker rather than leave them on the hob for 3 hours.

Has anyone else used this recipe with success? Is it supposed to look like this? If not, is there anything I can do to improve it?

On the plus side you can't tell whether the bits of peel are unevenly distributed!;)

Stompa

You've missed out the most important info, what does it taste like?

allIcouldwishfor

Very orangey!!!!

It tastes good actually, although I'm worried it might set a bit hard. If it looks (and moves) like tar in the morning I think I'll make up another batch without cooking it properly and chuck this stuff back in with it. Or will I just end up with twice as much unusable marmalade??!

Gingernutmeg

It probably looks that way because you used the brown sugar ... cooking will have intensified the 'caramel' colour. Did it catch on the pan at all?

However, if it sets ok and tastes ok then just say that it was an Oxford Marmalade recipe ... that has treacle in it traditionally so it's always dark

allIcouldwishfor

No, it didn't catch so it's not burnt at all. It has a very interesting look though! Not sure people I give it to will be convinced it's marmalade until they open it and smell it.

thriftlady_2

I'm sure it's just that you used brown sugar;)
Some marmalades are very dark. The recipe I have for 'Dark Chunky Marmalade' uses brown sugar instead of white or a couple of tbsp of black treacle stirred in.

When you put the labels on be sure to write 'Dark Marmalade' and everyone will assume that's how it is supposed to be.

aycor

I do my marmalade in the slow cooker and sometimes it is darker in colour than when done on the stove

sarahe

Hello
Not sure if I should start a new thread or not - but someone may read this and offer help!
Well on the reduced shelf I bought 1kg of seville oranges for £1 - it seemed a good idea to use the recipe on the bag and make marmalade. I even went mad and bought proper jam sugar rather than the plain sugar. I soaked the thinly cut fruit and mush overnight - I heated it up and simmered I added the sugar and returned to the boil - I stopped stirring and let it gently bubble for 30 mins. I put it in jars and after leaving for 2 days it is still watery and runny and hasn't set. Can I put it back in the saucepan and reheat it?
it tastes a little tart - but will just make my toast mushy
help

MATH

My grandmother's marmalade was almost black but tsted delicious. Christen it Seville Noire and tell your friends it is a very complex and difficult recipe - they will be well impressed;)

squeaky

sarahe wrote:

Hello
Not sure if I should start a new thread or not - but someone may read this and offer help!
Well on the reduced shelf I bought 1kg of seville oranges for £1 - it seemed a good idea to use the recipe on the bag and make marmalade. I even went mad and bought proper jam sugar rather than the plain sugar. I soaked the thinly cut fruit and mush overnight - I heated it up and simmered I added the sugar and returned to the boil - I stopped stirring and let it gently bubble for 30 mins. I put it in jars and after leaving for 2 days it is still watery and runny and hasn't set. Can I put it back in the saucepan and reheat it?
it tastes a little tart - but will just make my toast mushy
help

Yes you can.

It sounds like you missed the setting point (which is easy to do) so try the test listed here...

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/jam.htm

dianeclaire

This also happened to me last year using the same recipe, it tasted lovely but a very stiff set and very dark in colour.

I used another delia one this year where you don't cook the ornges beforehand and it has turned out a more "normal" colour and set