Bitter Orange Marmalade is a sophisticated jam made with a shot of whiskey, Irish style! It pairs perfectly with thick slices of toast, biscuits, and English muffins.
When my sister and I meet for dinner we usually eat somewhere halfway between our houses so neither of us gets stuck with a long drive home. We also split the second glass of wine. Being scrupulously equal is one of the sisterly survival tactics we learned long ago, and helps make up for the years when I found all the Easter eggs. It’s nice, too, that to this day, we both look exactly the same age 😉 One of our regular spots is an old school French bistro/bakery. It’s been in the valley for decades, one of those places where the tables aren’t crammed in like sardines, the windows are huge and look out over the sidewalk, and you can always get a good glass of wine, a decent quiche Lorraine or salad Nicoise. It’s also almost always empty, which is why we like it, but also why, I guess, on this occasion we found it replaced by a sushi bar/bakery with a flashy black melamine interior. It’s so sad to see these old European restaurants dropping like flies. But that’s off my point.
It sits on the corner of a residential street, so we usually troll for a parking spot to avoid the valet. We got lucky the other night and both found spots right on the corner, under two huge orange trees, loaded with fruit. Do you see where I’m going with this?
The tree was right on the curb, overhanging the street, and it was on the property of an apartment building, giving me just enough ethical wiggle room to grab an armload and stash them in the backseat. All I could think was, why in the world weren’t all these gorgeous oranges already picked clean? See where I’m going now? (refer back to the title of the post, if you need to)
Turns out these oranges are sour as heck. I was shocked, I never knew oranges could taste that way. They are as sour as a lemon, with a bitterness like the peel of a grapefruit. But after a little research I learned that the sour, or bitter orange is a variety that’s been around forever and is used a lot for perfume, flavoring, liqueurs, and, yes, marmalade. I had no idea.
I’m not a huge marmalade fan, so I made a batch for my husband, who is. I spiked it with whiskey, which is how they do it in Ireland. The marmalade, while sweetened up considerably, retains the sour and bitter notes of the oranges, which gives it a very grown-up, sophisticated flavor. Pair it with some sweet butter and a thick slab of wheat toast.
Whenever you’re making a marmalade, which uses the entire fruit, including the rind, be sure to get organic fruit, or use fruit from a backyard (or curbside!) tree. Either way, give it all a good bath. My friend Mary just posted on making your own fruit and vegetable wash here.
Sour oranges have more pectin than the sweet ones, so they make quick work of marmalade. This one only took a little over 30 minutes of boiling. The only time consuming part is thinly slicing all the rinds. But the beautiful orange color and scent make it pleasant work.
This marmalade is slightly bitter and sour, so add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter taste. You could use lemon, grapefruit, or a combination, to get a similar bitter/sour marmalade. I used elements from two online recipes… this one from David Lebovitz, and this one from Dos Gildas.
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Bitter Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
- about 10 small to medium bitter oranges, well scrubbed
- a weight of sugar equal to the orange peels
- 1/4 cup whiskey
- 1 leftover vanilla bean
Instructions
- Cut the oranges in half and juice them. Set the juice aside.
- Put the seeds and pulp into a saucepan with 2 cups of water and let boil for 30 minutes. Remove all the seeds and discard them.
- Meanwhile slice all the rinds into small strips.
- Put the rinds, the juice, pulp and the vanilla bean into a heavy bottomed pot. Use a smallish sized one since this is a small batch marmalade.
- Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes.
- Add the sugar and whiskey and boil for another 20 minutes, or until the marmalade is thickened. Stir often, scraping down the sides of the pan. You will see it darken and turn translucent at the end. Watch it carefully at this stage so it doesn't scorch. You can test a little bit of the jam on a cold plate to see if it gels, but if you have cooked it long enough, and it has reduced down and is thickening in the pot, you will be fine. Marmalade will continue to gel as it sits in the refrigerator.
- Remove the vanilla bean and ladle the marmalade into glass containers with tight fitting lids.
- Cool completely and then refrigerate. Use within a month.
Notes
I’ve heard of a type of dessert that my Cuban friend made but she’s no longer around to get the recipe from… Do you know if it?
I have a calamondin tree that is potted. My last two batches of marmalade have been incredibly bitter. My January 2018 batch has mellowed somewhat. I made a batch today and hoping time on the pantry shelf will mellow it. Any thoughts? I’m wondering if my calamondin oranges were so bitter with the extra dry hot summers we’ve had here in South Carolina. And I would love suggestions what to pair bitter orange marmalade with. My frugal soul can’t throw it away.
I’m just making some. I leave the fruit on the tree longer and it does sweeten a little with time. But then the pips try to grow inside the fruit if you leave it too long too. I will post my result but I see a few people add more sugar slowly and taste it as they go.
Great for Christmas pork roast! A must in many parts of South America!.
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I didn’t know that Espe, but now I can’t stop thinking about it!
In Mediterranean cuisine using bitter orange for salad dressing, marinating chicken , fish & seafood & in stews for taste & fragrant.
I’m going to have to experiment more with it, I’d love a bitter orange salad dressing! The problem is it’s hard to find here unless you happen to come across a tree!
We’ve used bitter oranges to marinade meat with.
That’s interesting, Angela, I’d love to try that.
In Andalucia, south Spain this bitter oranges were eaten with a lot of salt and you would practically dip the oranges in it.
Sounds wonderful, I’ve never heard of that, I’ll have to look it up. thanks for stopping by Thomas!
lovely sisters and website too! I was too lazy to do all the peeling etc of neighbour’s oranges which she gave me lots of and then asked me to pick when she was away for 2 months. I made them all into marmalade but still haven’t written down the best way to do it. Everyone liked the results though..and some have asked for MOREmalade – can u imagine? Last lot I named Smarmalade cos it was runny but v good for using in cooking from cakes to curries. I’m gonna try writing down a recipe if I can figure some way of dealing with a friend’s donation of really bitter pippy fruits – will let u know if it works!
Glad you stopped by Ariel! Can’t wait to hear the results of your next marmalade project, I really enjoyed the bitter flavor, I hope you do too. I like your idea of using marmalade with curry — do you put it in the sauce, or use it like a chutney?
The tiny “sour oranges”might be, what we call…”calamondin”. My mother makes a wonderful marmalade & adds crushed pineapple.
This marmalade can be used for “citrus flavoring” in just about anything!…pound cake, cake, muffins..on seafood, pork, etc…squeeze one into your iced tea or hot tea…awesome!….your imagination is the limit!
We have a tree in our yard & mother thinks that they are “as good as gold”!
I agree. I make a great marmalade with the calamindin fruit from a neighbor’s tree
Sue do you have any receipies for sugarless marmalades and jams. Not using artificial sweetners but grape, pear or apple concentrate. I’ve made jams and marmalades for years but now my husband has to watch his “white death” intake.
Thanks
Claire
I haven’t made any yet, Claire, but I’ll look into it. I think if you’re making jam to eat within a relatively short time, without the canning process, you can just boil down the fruit until it’s thick. The sugar is mainly there for preservation.
i’m with the husband: i love orange marmalade, although i think it depends on my mood as to whether or not i prefer a sweet or sour one. i’ve never had a homemade one, so i’d be interested to see what it tastes like as compared to the jarred variety (which can sometimes be like, AMAZINGLY bitter. i like that i could alter the sweetness to maybe a happy medium? and hi..the whiskey. good move.