Making Jam: Easiest Marmalade Ever

This is the easiest marmalade ever!  It's similar to Christmas Marmalade but with less pineapple and cherries so it takes on more of a citrus flavor and has a beautiful orange color.  I made it over the Holidays so I used a ruby red grapefruit but you could use a regular or pink grapefruit.

The recipe is called the Easiest Ever Marmalade.  I agree that it is about the easiest marmalade ever, but I decided to label it "Festive Marmalade" on the jars I gave away during the Holidays because it looks festive, and I didn't think that "easiest marmalade ever" sounded as tasty.  However, for preparation purposes, it is definitely easy.

Easiest Ever Marmalade

Makes: About 7-8 half-pint (8-ounce) jars plus a little more

Recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

What makes this marmalade so easy? The food processor does all the work.

Ingredients:

• 3 small oranges (unpeeled), seeded
• 1 lemon (unpeeled), seeded
• 1 small grapefruit (unpeeled), seeded
• 2 cups canned crushed pineapple, with juice
• 6 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped drained maraschino cherries
  

Directions:

 

Cut the fruit into quarters and remove the seeds from the oranges, lemon and grapefruit.

In a food processor, fitted with the metal blade, work in batches, and pulse the oranges, lemon and grapefruit until finely chopped.  Don't puree!

Combine the chopped fruit, pineapple with juice and the sugar in a large stainless steel saucepan.  Bring the mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. 

Boil hard, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to sheet from a metal spoon - about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare your jars and lids for water-bath canning.  For detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on the National Center for Home Preservation's site. 

Add cherries and boil until mixture reaches gel stage, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and test the gel.  If the mixture has reached gel stage, then skim off the foam.

Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot marmalade.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar.  Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water.  Bring to boil and process for 10 minutes, up to 1,000 feet altitude. If you live in a higher altitude or need more detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on this site: National Center for Home Preservation.

Remove canner lid.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars from water.  Let the jars sit on the counter overnight until they seal.  If any jars do not seal, put them in the refrigerator. 

 

Once the jars have cooled and completely sealed, move them to a cool dry place for storage.  This marmalade is really good so you'll probably want to give some away but be sure to keep some for yourself.

I'm participating in the tigress' Can Jam in 2010. We'll be making jams and pickling for a whole year. You can follow my progress on this blog. Look for my first post for the Can Jam next week.


Happy Canning and Baking!
Cathy