Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Oranges are not the only fruit. But, as it’s the season for Seville oranges and these bitter globes of winter sunshine are amply available for a short time, we are making the most of them in my homestead by making a year’s batch of marmalade as well as my favourite French treat, Florentine biscuits.

For the marmalade we used a tried and tested recipe from Katie Stewart’s Calendar Cookbook. As this old tome was published in 1976 I think I’ll write out the recipe!

1 ¼ kg Seville oranges

2 ¾ litres water

2 ¾ kg preserving sugar

2 tablespoons black treacle

Juice of 2 large lemons

Place whole scrubbed oranges in a very large saucepan and cover with 4 pints of water. Simmer for 1 ½ hours until oranges are soft. Lift out oranges and reserve water they were simmering in. Cut each orange in half and scoop out the pith and pips with a teaspoon. Put in a saucepan with 1 pint of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins. Cut up the soft peel either coarsely or finely depending on your taste. Return the peel to the original saucepan containing the water. Add the sugar and treacle. Then add the lemon juice and the strained water from the pith and pips. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly on a rolling boil until, when tested on a plate cooled in the freezer, a small sample of marmalade crinkles when you push it with your finger and stays set in a crinkle (I’ve now gone off piste from the recipe but this test really does work to check if the marmalade is properly set). Take the pan off the heat and pour into warm, dry jars (we used jars from last year which we put through the dishwasher to sterilise). Leave uncovered until cool and then seal.

The page this chunky Seville marmalade recipe is printed on has been graffitied over the years by Mum’s scrawled hand. But, even with these previous changes made, we still found that the amount of water could be reduced (perhaps more like four pints in total) and that it takes a lot longer to set on the boil than the recipe suggests.

I’m quite glad that oranges are not the only fruit because I don’t actually much like marmalade! But making this auburn preserve feels antiquated and worthy. The resulting jars of amber jelly with fruity fossils frozen in them even look prehistoric!

The best Florentine biscuits have a satisfying balance of nutty syrupy stickiness, luxuriant dark chocolate and a citrus zing. I turned to my mentor in both baking and life, the infallible Mary Berry for a recipe for these tasty little treats. Although I bow to Queen Berry’s prowess I prefer the almonds in my Florentines to be left in large chunks rather than finely chopped. I halved unblanched whole almonds which worked well and added a nice rusticity!

I added cranberries and a good glug of orange oil to replace candied peel as that stuff should have been put down as a 70s fad and left behind. Glaze one side of these crisp little biscuits with the darkest chocolate you can find to finesse the finished article!

Finally, gather eager friends and family, and gobble with sticky glee!