January will soon be with us with its welcome Seville Orange season and our freezers, somewhat denuded of Christmas stores and summer gluts, will have space for lots of wonderful  sweet-smelling, thick-skinned Sevilles, for making into choice jars of marmalade for the year ahead.   Not just marmalade but Seville Orange Marmalade which we, and fortunate relatives and friends, are already anticipating at this damp pre-Christmas period.  Do you have supplies for the Christmas breakfast table treat of nicely warmed croissant with butter and Seville orange marmalade or with toast, pancakes and waffles?

Of course, you may have eggs, bacon, kidney, tomatoes and mushrooms with freshly brewed coffee, or scrambled eggs on toast , Kedgeree or even porridge, as well as toast and luscious marmalade, tea or even a glass of champagne for your Christmas brekky while your children or grandchildren may just breakfast on their stocking’s chocolate orange!

For my childhood’s Christmas  Day we always had good sliced ham with hot sausage rolls, strong tea and grilled grapefruit halves, before the toast and marmalade, and I probably ate Robinson’s jelly marmalade or honey on my toast as like most young people , I wouldn’t tolerate any dark, grown-up marmalade.  It’s an adult delight, indeed.

Well fear not, if your shelves are bereft of your homemade Seville Orange marmalade, for help  is at hand on the NFWI website’s Menu of the Week page.  Scroll down the left-hand list for individual Recipes to “Jams and Preserves” where you will find their “Very Quick Ginger Marmalade”.  I found this quite by chance the other evening, looking for inspiration for writing and  enhancement of self-knowledge, which I found in good measure.

Just recently, I made a quick batch of Seville Orange marmalade for a family gathering from marmalade pulp and it was very good indeed, adding soft brown sugar because I was out of black treacle which I normally add for the colour and flavour.  The brown sugar was an excellent  alternative.

So here’s the recipe, just in case you might like to try it yourself……!

The “Handy measures” and “Conversion chart” info is also excellent.

Margaret Halstead

Glorious Black Treacle