Marmalade is a breakfast favourite for us both. Particularly if it’s home made, when you can tweak it to your own individual taste. Last year we mixed in some finely diced ginger to give it a bit of a kick.
The only trouble is, it’s a faff to make. Once you’ve bought your oranges, which are expensive out of season, you have to set about slicing the rind to whatever size you like on your toast, peeling the pith, breaking open the segments and then boiling it all to a pulp, preferably having picked out the pips, too.
Then we discovered Ma Made, the ultimate cheat’s marmalade. Made by Hartleys, who know a thing or two about jam, it’s the only real way you can skip the first messy stage without employing lowly-paid staff of your own.
The only reason we picked it up was that we saw a dented can on the reduced aisle at the supermarket, but I can’t see us making marmalade any other way now.
You tip out the contents, add two thirds of a can-full of water and a couple of kilos of sugar and then boil it up for 15 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pop your jars in the oven to sterilise and get ready to test for setting by dropping a teaspoon of the mixture onto a cold plate and running your finger through it once it’s cooled. If it rucks up in front of your nail, it’s ready for the jar.
One tin, which costs less than a couple of pounds, even if it isn’t reduced, is enough to make six large or 12 small jars of marmalade. Buying them in the shops, depending on size, would cost you £1.50 or 80p a pop. It’s fun, cheap, and almost self sufficient.
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