It’s Marmalade Day!
We’ve spent the day cooking up the favorite treat for one of our favorite bears – Paddington. We’ve loved Paddington since we were kids, and absolutely loved the first movie that came out in 2014. With Paddington 2 coming out on January 12th, we had to try to make some marmalade for the upcoming release.
So if you’re like me, making marmalade seems a little weird – you’re actually using the rind – something we usually throw away. But this recipe had me googling other things as the mixture cooked down. Like- Do Bears Eat Oranges? They do and here is video proof! Does Sugar Cane grow in Peru? It does! and even Do Oranges Grow in Peru? They do! So… it’s entirely likely that orange marmalade is the ideal meal for Paddington – once they figured out how to cook it that is!
Making marmalade has always seemed like it was one of those hard to do tasks, the instructions were always overwhelming and one of those recipes that I always put off. But there are a lot of ways to do a recipe, and I think a lot of them make it a lot more complicated than it actually needed to be. This recipe is pretty easy to do, doesn’t require removing the rind and is a great intro recipe for making marmalades.
Ingredients:
5 large Oranges*- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- *Alternative – 4 Large Oranges and 4 mandarin oranges for variety of flavors
- Instructions:
Wash all of the oranges to remove any dirt or impurities. Cut both the blossom end stem end off the oranges. Slice all into 1/8″ strips. Remove any seeds as you go. 
Add all ingredients into a large pot and cook over medium high and stirring occasionally.- Continue to cook down until the marmalade thickens and darkens slightly. You will be able to tell that the marmalade is done when you take a spoonful and it comes from the spoon.
- Spoon your done marmalade into clean jars and can with the instructions below, freeze for up to 6 months or place in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Canning Instructions:
- Place 5 clean half pint jars on a rack in your stock pot. Fill the jars and stock pot with cool water until it completely covers the top of the jars. Cover and put on medium heat. Simmer but do not boil.
- Prepare 5 lid sets, put the bands aside and put the flat lids in a small sauce pan and put on medium heat. Do not boil, but keep warm through the whole process.
- Prepare your marmalade according to the directions above.
- Now, remove the jars from the warm bath. Tip them as you pull them out and pour the water back into the pan. Place them on a towel on the counter with the opening up. Do not dry them! Just put
- them down and put the funnel in. Put your ingredients in your jars until there is about 1/2 inch of space in the top. Once all jars are full, take a plastic or wooden utensil and move it around to get extra air bubbles out.
- Take the small magnet tool and remove flat lids from their hot bath. Place over
top of each jar. By hand screw on the collars, but not too tight! Remember some air still needs to get out of each jar. - Place the jars back into the hot stock pot and replace the lid. Turn your temperature up to high. When it starts to do a rolling boil, start a timer for 10 minutes.
- After the jars have processed for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the lid to the pan. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove all the jars without tipping them and place them back on the towel. Remember – don’t towel them off!
Paddington 2 Trailer:
Settled in with the Brown family, Paddington the bear is a popular member of the community who spreads joy and marmalade wherever he goes. One fine day, he spots a pop-up book in an antique shop — the perfect present for his beloved aunt’s 100th birthday. When a thief steals the prized book, Paddington embarks on an epic quest to unmask the culprit before Aunt Lucy’s big celebration.
