Cranberry Orange Marmalade

This Cranberry Orange Marmalade is bright and sweet with less bitterness due to a special recipe secret.

Marmalade is a classic sweet condiment, ranking somewhere between jams and fruit curd in importance.  But if, like me, you’re not a fan of bitter flavors, you may think (perhaps mistakenly) that it’s not for you. 

Now there are many bitter flavor lovers in the world–just look at the popularity of IPAs.  And for them, the inclusion of bitter citrus peel (a defining characteristic of marmalade) is delicious!    

But as it turns out, it’s not at all difficult to moderate the bitterness in marmalade.  If you use only the bright orange part of the rind and strip away the bitter white pith, you can get a marmalade that is bright and cheery, with just a hint of bitter.  Balanced by sweetness of course!  Yum!

This recipe can be canned or simply refrigerated depending on your preferences and cooking skills.  It makes a small batch (you can even halve it) and is tasty, so it shouldn’t be too hard to use it up! 

Why You’ll Love This!

Flavorful.  Cranberry Orange Marmalade is bright and cheery with sweet orange flavor and a hint of cranberry.

Unique.  Yeah, anyone can put out the strawberry jam.  But how many people can add Cranberry Orange Marmalade to a table or charcuterie board!

Fun.  Just take look at all the ideas in the How to Use Marmalade section below for some real fun!

What You’ll Need

Ingredients

• Oranges.  You use some of the peel and the flesh to create the characteristic marmalade flavor.  You can also use mandarins. 
• Water.
• Sugar.  This the marmalade sweeter, less bitter and contributes to the marmalade setting.  I have made this successfully substituting allulose sweetener for half of the sugar.
• Cranberries.  This adds flavor nuance and provides some additional pectin for a good set.  You can use fresh or frozen and thawed.

Special Tools

• If you’re planning to can this, you’ll need the standard canning supplies, like jars, canner, lids, etc.

Step by Step Overview

Using a vegetable peeler or zester, cut off just the orange portion of the peel in slices. Reserve the strips of orange peel.

Slice the remainder of the white pith off the orange (as if beginning to supreme the orange). Discard the white pith.

Place the peeled oranges and the reserved colored peel into a saucepan topped with the 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook until everything tender.

Reserve 2 cups of cooking water. Slice the orange peel sections into thin juliennes. Break/cut up the cooked orange into a coarse mash. Place peel, mash, sugar and the reserved water back into the saucepan.

Bring to a boil and cook on medium until about 218 F. Add the cranberries and continue cooking until mixture reaches 220-222 F. As a secondary test (recommended), place a bit of the mixture on a cold plate and put it in freezer to test that it will gel.

To can, pour into 3 clean, hot, half-pint jars. Process in a boiling water bath, according to standard canning techniques, for 10 minutes.  Or if not canning store in refrigerator.

Variations

I just tested a reduced sugar version, substituting 1 cup of allulose sweetener for 1 cup of the sugar.  And it worked perfectly–hooray.  Note that different sweeteners perform differently, so switch at your own risk. 

For my most recent batch, I happened to have mandarins in my refrigerator rather than full sized oranges.  These worked just as well, and I found that 6 mandarins were about equivalent to the original 3 oranges.

Are you excited by all the beautiful citrus available right now?  If so, consider trying some elegant Candied Orange Slices, or maybe Blood Orange Spritz Cookies, Mandarin Orange Salad or Spicy Orange Ginger Beef Stir-Fry. 

And if you’re still using up the holiday cranberries (hint, check the back of the freezer), consider putting the two together again with Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies.

How to Use Marmalade

Marmalade can be used in so many different ways.  First, there is the classic approach of spreading it on toast, English muffins, croissants, or any of the other items jam usually is typically spread on.  Beyond this, you can:

• Smear it inside a grilled cheese sandwich.
• Mix with cream cheese for a tasty dip or fruity spread.
• Spread on meat before cooking like this Orange Marmalade Salmon.
• Toss with roasted carrots (maybe add a little ginger too).
• Add dish of marmalade to a charcuterie board.
• Top baked brie with cranberry orange marmalade instead of jam.

Yum!

Tips & FAQs

Since the peel is used in this, I try to get organic oranges if I can.  Oranges currently fall between the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen ratings of pesticide residue in produce, so I give it a medium priority. 

If you’re using previously frozen cranberries, they may not cut easily into wagon wheels.  In that case chop, halve or cut in thirds to make smaller pies.

If you’re thinking of putting this on a charcuterie board, consider using in ½ cup jars instead of ½ pint.  Those are small enough to go on the board as is! 

My directions below assume that you are familiar with canning techniques, so are not comprehensive.   If you are a newbie and want to give it a try, there are many good reference sources such as the Ball guide or Food in Jars that can help you get started. 

And as I mentioned this can also be kept in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.   

Cranberry Orange Marmalade

This Cranberry Orange Marmalade is bright and sweet with less bitterness due to a special recipe secret. Can be canned or refrigerated.

Author: Inger

5 from 1 vote

Print

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Condiments

Cuisine International

Servings 24

Calories 73 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 medium oranges unpeeled (approximately 16 ounces)
• 3 cup water
• 2 cups sugar you can use half allulose sweetener
• ½ cup cranberry slices Cut into wagon wheels, Frozen will work but may not cut as well so can be chopped or cut in halves or thirds.

Instructions

 

• Using a vegetable peeler (or zester), cut off just the orange portion of the peel in slices (If using a peeler, working in a back and forth slicing motion may make this easier.) Reserve the strips of orange peel. With a sharp knife, slice the remainder of the white pith off the orange (as if beginning to supreme the orange). Discard the white pith.
• Place the peeled oranges and the reserved colored peel into a saucepan topped with the 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook until everything is very tender, 30-40 minutes.
• Reserve 2 cups of cooking water. Slice the orange peel sections into thin juliennes. Break/cut up the cooked orange into a coarse mash. Place peel, mash, sugar and 2 cups of reserved water back into the saucepan.
• Bring to a boil and cook on medium until about 218 F. Add the cranberries and continue cooking until mixture reaches 220-222 F. As a secondary test (recommended), place a bit of the mixture on a cold plate and put it in freezer to test that it will gel.
• To can, pour into 3 clean, hot, half-pint jars. Process in a boiling water bath, according to standard canning techniques, for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Or if not canning store in refrigerator.

Notes

This recipe assumes that you already know how to can or will be refrigerating your marmalade instead.

In one test, I tried to streamline these instructions by breaking up the oranges and peel right away, and adding sugar immediately. This version did not thicken properly (though it will go nicely into yogurt) and my reading indicates that adding sugar too soon can weaken the gel.

Nutrition

Calories: 73kcal

I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Updated from the original published Jan 22, 2017.

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