Christmas Marmalade is made with oranges, lemon, pineapple and cherries. It’s a beautiful Holiday jam perfect for festive gatherings or to give as gifts.
I’ve been wanting to make this jam for several months. I got a food processor as an early Christmas present so I decided now was the time. I broke in my food processor last night by chopping up fruit for this marmalade and two other marmalades (to be revealed in future posts). I was in heaven — it made things so easy!
This marmalade is delicious? I plan to give some of it away for Christmas, but I’m definitely keeping some for my family as well. It’s so good!
Christmas Marmalade
Makes:
About 7-8 half-pint (8-ounce) jars (Plus a little extra for the preparer)
The recipe for this festive marmalade is from Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs by Nancy Chioff & Gretchen Mead.
Ingredients:
- 3 oranges
- 1 lemon
- 1 large can (1 pound, 14 ounces, crushed pineapple)
- 3 pounds sugar
- 1 small jar maraschino cherries, chopped
Directions:
Tip
: If you have a food-processor, it definitely speeds up the process for making this marmalade.
Peel the oranges and lemon and cut into quarters. Leave some of the white rind on the oranges because the rind is where a lot of the pectin is.
Place a small plate in the freezer (to be used to test for gelling).
In a food processor, fitted with the metal blade, working in batches, pulse oranges and lemon until finely chopped. Do not puree.
In a deep, stainless steel saucepan, combine chopped oranges, lemon, pineapple with juice and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard, stirring until constantly, until mixture begins to sheet from a metal spoon (20-30 minutes).
Add cherries and boil until mixture reaches gel stage, about 5 (or 10) minutes.
Remove from heat and test for gelling using the plate method.
Plate method to test gelling: Remove the plate from the freezer and place about a teaspoon of jam on it. Put the plate back in the freezer for about 2 minutes. Remove it from the freezer and gently push the edge of the jam with your finger. If it is properly gelled, the jam should wrinkle a bit. If it is still runny, continue cooking the jam for 5 minutes more and test again using the plate method.
If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam.
Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if necessary.
Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
Process in a boiling-water bath for 5 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.
Wait 5 minutes, then remove the jars from the canner, cool and store. These jars are ready to be stored (or given away).
I had a little bit of jam left that wouldn’t fit in the jars. Not to worry! I’m putting it to good use. It tastes really good on toasted 7-Grain Bread.
Happy Canning and Baking!
Cathy
Here are some of the references I use in my canning adventures. You might enjoy them as well:
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs
- National Center for Home Preservation
Here are some delicious breads that would go well with this jam!
That looks beautiful! Love the color. I love making fruit jams, especially those that don’t require pectin. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks Hanaâ! It’s delicious as well. This one is real easy so you could make it in time for the Holidays.
Did you peel the oranges and lemon or place them rind and all in the food processor?
Hi Jennifer, I peeled the oranges and lemon before placing in the food processor. Be sure to keep some of the white rind on the oranges because this is where a lot of the pectin is. I’ve updated the instructions accordingly.