Grapefruit and Tangelo Marmalade

A visit to Paddy's family homestead in the apptly-named Bay of Plenty for Christmas meant a supply of excess citrus fruit. I hate to see good produce go to waste, but there was far too much for the lucky owner of the trees to keep up with. Faced with such a huge bounty, I thought it was about time I had a go at making marmalade. Here is my recipe, adapted from a number of different books I consulted before setting out. This is a double recipe and makes about 4 delicious litres of marmalade. That equates to a lot of jars... It seems like an insane amount of sugar, but I did my calculations (from pounds to kilos) several times, and this is what I kept coming up with. Someone once told me to never alter the amount of suger in jam/marmalade or the amount of vinegar in chuntey, as it is the preserving agent, so I just went with it, and added all 9 kgs!
Recipe can be halved if desired.


Grapefruit and Tangelo Marmalade
10 tangelos
6 grapefruit
9 kgs of sugar
20 cups of water
Juice and zest of 4 lemons

Finely slice the grapefruit and tangelos. The size of the slices effects the final product, so take your time and do this properly or you will regret it! Cover the chopped fruit with the water and leave to soak overnight. 
The next day, bring the fruit and water to the boil and cook for about an hour, or until the fruit is soft. Then, add the sugar and boil until set (around 40 minutes). To tell if marmalade is set, freeze a saucer, place a dollop of marmalade on the saucer, leave it to cool amd run your finger through the middle of the dollop. If it stays parted, the marmalade is set. Bottle marmalade into sterilised jars and seal. Store in a cool, dark place and refrigerate when opened.

For a first atempt, I think this turned out pretty darm delicious. Admittedly, the produce I had to work with was AMAZING (many grapefruits were also consumed in their raw state), but I am going to take at least a little credit for the result!

Collecting grapefruit from the laden trees

The fruit, soaking overnight in water

The finished product. Excuse the dreary photo, it's a rainy day here!

On homemade wholemeal bread for breakfast this morning. Yum!!