To celebrate the launch of Paddington Bear coming to the big screen in November, 50 statues of the fictional bear are on the streets of London. Today I have a guest post from Borough Market’s with an ultimate marmalade sandwich recipe..
Celebrating Paddington’s first glimpse of Borough Market. Paddington couldn’t fail to love this marmalade sandwich: Plain and simple, no fancy twists, but made with the finest ingredients a bear could wish for.
Marmalade Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1kg Seville oranges
- 1 Unwaxed lemon
- 1.75kg granulated sugar (no need for preserving sugar)
Step 1
- Wash the oranges and lemon well and then put them in your pan and cover with water.
- I weighed down the fruit with a small dish to stop it bobbing above the surface.
- Cover with a lid and then boil for 1-2 hours until the peel feels soft and can be easily pierced with a fork.
- Meanwhile enjoy the ambrosial citrus scent wafting around your kitchen.
- Remove the fruit from the water and allow to cool.
- Measure the liquid left in your pan, you will need about 1.25 litres.
- If you have too much you can reduce it by boiling, too little - just add a splash of water.
- Now for the fun, and many hands do make light work; it’s time to prepare the fruit.
- Quarter the oranges and lemon.
- Take a spoon and scrape the pith, flesh and seeds into a large sieve set over a bowl.
- Slice the peel into coarse or fine shreds, the choice is yours (it wasn’t mine as an impatient seven year old will always mean thick slices).
- Put the peel into the pan with the measured cooking water.
- Take a rubber spatula and squash as much juice as you can from the pulp in the sieve and tip this into the marmalade pan.
- Put the remaining pips and pulp into a muslin square and tie up (or take the pop sock approach) and then dangle this down into your pan too.
- The pith and pips contain masses of pectin which will set the marmalade later.
- Bring the pan up to the boil and then remove your bag, or sock, and give it a squeeze to release as much of the valuable pectin as possible back into the marmalade.
- Tip in the sugar and place the pot on a low flame.
- Once the sugar has dissolved you can up the heat and bring the marmalade to a rolling boil.
- Watch it carefully, you don’t want it bubble over.
- Give it a stir and skim the froth from the surface from time to time (or you will have cloudy marmalade).
- Now you’re on the home straight. Your marmalade will take about 25 - 45 minutes at a fast boil to reach setting consistency (there are so many variables - the heat, the width of your pan, the amount of pectin, so I can’t be precise).
- Test the setting consistency after 25 minutes by spooning some hot marmalade straight onto one of your plates from the freezer, allow it to cool for a couple of minutes.
- Now push the marmalade with your fingertip, if it’s ready it will form a wrinkly skin as you do so.
- If not, continue to boil and check at 5 minute intervals.
- Once ready leave the marmalade to cool for 15 minutes, skim off any last foam and ladle into the hot jars.
- Cover with waxed disks if using, and seal with lids or cellophane at once.
- London bloomer, or other fabulous bread from Bread Ahead
- Hand-churned, lightly salted Sussex butter from Hook & Son
- Award winning chunky Seville orange marmalade from Jill’s Natural Preserves
- Cut a couple of thick slices of bread and spread one very generously with butter.
- Open up the marmalade jar and spoon (no paws thank you!) 3 or 4 dollops of the very finest homemade marmalade upon the butter.
- Spread carefully.
- Top with your second hunk of bread and, using every ounce of self-discipline that a small bear can muster, stop to cut your sandwich in half before devouring.
- Now wash sticky whiskers and paws.
