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Hot Orange Marmalade

Tracy Smith
Edible Monterey Bay graphic designer and production coordinator Tracy Smith lives in Corralitos, where she is lucky enough to have a prolific orange tree right outside her door. That’s what inspired this hot orange marmalade recipe, which she likes to make for holiday parties and to give to family and friends.
It’s hot, she says, because she likes all her food spicy and adds red pepper flakes to almost everything. This marmalade is a good balance of bitter, sweet and spicy. It tastes great slathered atop a round of goat cheese, and definitely deserves a place on your holiday cheese board.
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Course Condiment

Ingredients
  

  • 5–6 oranges
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 1 cup loosely packed rind, cut into slivers
  • 3 cups water, divided
  • 1 cup cooking liquid from rind
  • 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus
  • 1/8 teaspoon for finishing
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions
 

STEP 1 - PREPARE THE RIND

  • Peel outside rind from 3 oranges into wide ribbons. Use a wide and sharp vegetable peeler to remove only the brightly colored peel without picking up the white pith.
  • In 1½ cups water to cover, cook rind ribbons until soft, about 7–12 minutes. Strain. Retain cooking water and set rind and cooking water in fridge to cool (overnight is best).
  • PRO TIP: The rind will be easier to cut into slivers when cold. Also put all peeled and unpeeled oranges in refrigerator to chill for 24 hours to help solidify the juice, which makes oranges easier to slice into sections later.

STEP 2 – MAKE THE MARMALADE

  • Cut cooled rind into long thin slivers, then coarsely chop to make a full cup.
  • Peel and remove pith from chilled oranges. Slice oranges in between membranes into segments or supremes.
  • Retain membrane dividers and place onto a square of cheesecloth to tie into a pectin bag.
  • In a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan combine sugar, 1½ cups water, 1 cup cooking liquid from rind prep, slivered orange rind, orange segments and juice, pectin bag, chopped jalapeño and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
  • Bring mixture to a rolling boil and maintain boil until mixture reaches 220° F. Be patient, this could take 45 minutes.
  • Test mixture to make sure it is gelling, using cold plates from the freezer.
  • When marmalade reaches desired consistency, turn off heat. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste and lemon zest.
  • Marmalade can be refrigerated up to 4 weeks or preserved using water bath canning process. Makes 5 ½-pint jars.
  • PRO TIP: The addition of red chili flakes at the end helps color the marmalade.
Keyword citrus, marmalade, oranges