Orange Marmalade ( Confiture d' Orange)

I'm not a fan of jams. But there are days when I wake up with a craving for toast and marmalade or berry jam. I don't really like the synthetic flavour of regular store bought jams so I've been on a mission to make a tasty marmalade. 

INGREDIENTS:

* 5 oranges

* 3 cups granulated sugar

* juice of 1/2 a lemon

* a pinch of ground cinnamon

A lot of research went into creating this recipe and marmalade. I don't like my marmalade very bitter. Just a gentle trace to actually feel the orange rind. Also I added only the rind of another 3 oranges to give it more of a texture.

I used a sharp vegetable peeler to take off the rind. This method doesn't allow any of the bitter pith to come off. 

Using a sharp knife, I then cut away the pith from the actual orange segments.

If you want a smooth texture, remove the skin from the segments and roughly cut them into chunks. They will break apart while cooking. I however like my marmalade chunky and full of texture so all I did was remove the harder centre of each segment and the seeds.

Before we actually get onto our marmalade, we have to ready the rind. Julienne the rind with a sharp knife.

Add the rind to a medium pot. Fill the pot with just enough water to cover the rind and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Drain the water. Then fill and repeat the process 2 more times.

This will help get rid of as much bitterness as possible.

After you've boiled the rind thrice, drain the water from the pot. Add 2 cups of water, the orange chunks, the rind, sugar and lemon juice. 

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to medium-low and keep the mixture simmering.

Cook the marmalade for about 40 minutes stirring it every 5 minutes. There is a possibility it may bubble and overflow so keep a watchful eye on the pot.

When it's almost done, add the pinch of cinnamon and mix well. It will look a bit runny but will thicken when cooled and will thicken even more in the fridge.

(Store bought marmalade is always thicker because of the huge amount of sugar added to it. This recipe uses minimal sugar and is not overly sweet)