Organic Grapefruit & Armagnac Marmalade

• 3 lbs (1.35 kg) Organic Grapefruit
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 7 pints (4.2 litres) water
• 1 lb (450 g) sugar per 1 lb (450 g) pulp

Method:

1. Wash and dry the fruit. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. Remove the pips, inside skin and pith. Tie these in a piece of muslin.
2. Cut the peel finely or coarsely, according to preference.
3. Put the peel in a large bowl with the bag of pips etc, the grapefruit juice and the juice from 2 lemons. Add 7 pints (4.2 litres) of water and leave to soak overnight.
4. Weigh the preserving pan and make a note of it. Put the soaked peel, pith and pips into it with the water and juice.
5. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the peel is soft and the contents of the pan have been reduced to half its original bulk. This will take 1½ – 2 hours.
6. Lift out the bag of pips and pith, squeezing it again the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
7. Test for pectin.
8. Re-weigh the pan and subtract from this weight the original weight of the empty pan to calculate the weight of the remaining pulp.
9. Add 1 lb (450 g) of warmed sugar to each 1 lb (450 g) of pulp, stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
10. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the marmalade sets when tested.
11. Remove the scum and leave to cool slightly.
12. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Armagnac for each 1 lb (450 g) and stir.
13. Pot and seal whilst still warm.

Notes: Any grapefruit can be used, I just came across vastly reduced nice pink organic grapefruit whilst shopping and thought what can I do with them! I did have problems in extracting enough pectin which surprised me with citrus fruit and had to put in two sachets of "Silver Spoon" pectin (26 g) in order to get a good set.  Other alcohol flavourings than armagnac go well with marmalades, particularly dark rum, brandy and whisky, but don't use more than a tablespoon (15 ml)  to each 1 lb (450 g) or it will drown the citrus taste.  This made 10 lbs so I added 10 tablespoons (150 ml) in total.

Marmalade Making Help & Advice

This articles will get you started and explain the finer ponts of making your own marmalade:

• Making Your own Marmalade at Home

Making Your Own Marmalade?

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