A marmalade is essentially the thick boiled, meaty part and juice of chosen fruits. It can be made with or without sugar. Usually it is boiled using one type of fruit or a combination of several.
When preparing marmalade, soft and overripe fruits are usually used. Semi-mashed ones also work. Before use, remove the rotten and damaged areas, as well as the seeds and pits.
The fruit mash for the preparation of marmalade can be made in 2 ways. The 1st one requires putting the cleaned and washed fruits through a meat grinder. The other option is to boil the fruits whole until they soften. Once they cool, pass them through a colander.
Marmalades boil fastest in wide and shallow oven dishes. This allows for the water to evaporate quickly and guarantees the fine taste and color of the marmalade. During the boiling process, stir with a wooden spatula constantly, to prevent burning.
Here's how to prepare a delicious rosehip marmalade:
Ingredients: 11 lb rosehips, 2 lb sugar, 1 gal water
Preparation: Wash the rosehips, remove the stems and black tips on the front. Halve them and thoroughly clean out the seeds. Once all of them have been cleaned, wash once again and put them in a pressure cooker.
Pour in 1 gallon of water or enough to cover them. Let them come to a boil. Once this happens, turn down the heat. Leave them to simmer for about an hour. Once they have been boiled, pass them through a colander and sieve, to remove all of the shells. The resulting paste needs to have a medium thick consistency.
Pour the rosehip paste into a pot and add the sugar to it. Then let the marmalade boil for about 3 hours. Keep an eye on it the entire time to make sure it doesn't burn and stir periodically. The marmalade is ready once it leaves a trail after the spoon with which it is stirred. While still warm, distribute it into prepared jars. Close them tightly but do not sterilize.
11 lb of rosehips should yield about 4.5 lb of marmalade.