Pink grapefruit marmalade

Every year we make Christmas hampers for our family and friends, and include a selection of chutneys and jams. It changes every year (we've often done red onion marmalade, piccalilli, bacon chili jam, and usually some kind of tomato-based chutney) but an absolute annual staple is my pink grapefruit marmalade. I look forward to marmalade making day, usually on a wintery weekend sometime in the run-up to Christmas, when the house gets filled with the delicious aromas of bubbling, sugary citrus. 

  

Ingredients

(Makes 12 - 14 jars, depending on size)

• 2kg pink grapefruit
• 5 lemons
• 5kg granulated sugar
• 5l water

Method

Note: Make sure that before you put your finished marmalade into jars, you first sterilise your jam jars - this is necessary to prevent mould from forming. There are various ways you can do this - either put them through a short cycle of your dish washer, or warm them in an over for 10 minutes. Ideally the jars should still be quite warm when you pour in the marmalade, so you may need to do this towards the end of the cooking process. 

Part 1 (the evening before your marmalade day)

1. Start by placing two saucers or small plates in the freezer, ready to check for the setting point of your marmalade.
2. Thoroughly wash the grapefruits and lemons, and remove their ends.
3. Use a peeler or a sharp knife to cut the peel off all the grapefruit. Try to avoid cutting too much of the white pith off the fruit - you are aiming for nice thin slices of peel. Set the strips of peel aside for now.
4. Slice the lemons in half and juice them, placing the juice into a very large saucepan. Keep the lemon shells and any seeds or pith caught in the juicer - for now you can put all this in a separate bowl. 
5. Trim as much of the white pith off the grapefruit as you can and add this to the bowl with the discarded lemon shells and seeds.
6. Place a sieve over the saucepan containing the lemon juice, then take a grapefruit and carefully cut each segment of fruit away from the membrane. Making sure there are no seeds in the segments, add these to the pan with the juice. Squeeze as much juice from the remaining membrane as possible, then add this to the bowl with the discarded seeds and rind. Repeat this for all the grapefruit.
7. Returning to your heap of grapefruit peel, use a sharp knife to thinly slice all into small matchsticks. Add these to the pan of juice. 
8. Onto a very large square of clean muslin, tip the contents of the bowl of discarded seeds and flesh, pull together the corners, twist into a tight knapsack and tie up tightly. Place this into the large pan full of the juice and grapefruit segments, and top up with water (make a note of how much water you have added, as if your pan is not large enough, you will top up with the remainder the following day when you discard the bag). Leave to soak overnight.

Part 2 (marmalade day)

1. Put the saucepan on the heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes to soften the peel, then remove the lid and simmer gently for a further 20 minutes, so that the liquid reduces by about one-third. 
2. Remove the muslin bag, squeezing it with a wooden spoon to push as much of the liquid as possible back into the saucepan.
3. Divide the contents of the pan between two or three very large, wide saucepans.
4. Add the extra water (if not all was added the night before).
5. Add the sugar, and stir over a low heat until it has dissolved. 
6. Increase the heat and boil steadily for 20 minutes, taking care to keep an eye on the marmalade to make sure that it doesn’t boil too rapidly. 
7. Test the marmalade to see if it has reached the setting point. To do this, remove the saucepan from the heat, spoon a little onto one of the cold plates removed from the freezer, and leave for 2 minutes – it should wrinkle softly when your finger is pushed over the surface. If this point has not been reached, return the saucepan to the heat and continue to boil for another 2-3 minutes. Test as before until setting point is reached. (You may need to test several times, as this is crucial to achieve the right consistency). The marmalade will set upon cooling, as long as you have tested the setting point – even though it will look quite runny when you first pour it into the jars.
8. Allow the marmalade to settle in the pans for 10 minutes, then pour it into the hot sterilized jars. Leave to cool, then seal and label.