Cherry & Orange Marmalade

In yesterday's post, I said that I planned to make Cherry & Orange Marmalade. Today I got up a bit early and did just that.

I found this recipe the other day and decided to try it. I tweaked it a bit, of course:

• She used sweet cherries and I had sour cherries, so I increased the sugar to 4 cups instead of 3.5 cups. (Also: the puréed oranges are a bit bitter.)
• I didn't use the butter -- that's just there to help mitigate the foaming while the mixture boils. I've learned to use my tall pot and make small-ish batches (4 cups, maximum) so that it doesn't boil over and get all over my stove.
• I added 3 Tbsp pectin -- this is just because I've had issues with gelling recently, so I wanted to make sure it gelled properly. (Could it be my altitude? We're at 4000 ft.) This time, the mixture was starting to gel even before I got it all poured into the jars!

I had almost exactly 2 lbs of pitted cherries so I dumped them all into the pot. I've still got the pits with cherry flesh attached in the fridge. I'll probably use them when I make the Orange Marmalade with Juniper Berries and Port Wine.

Other than those minor modifications, I followed the recipe exactly. I used the potato masher to get the juices started and dissolve the sugar. After the mixture was warm enough that the cherries were getting really mushy, I used my immersion blender to mix it all together nicely.

That's my potato masher, not my immersion blender. Duh. ;-)

It made just a smidge more than 6 half-pints, so I put the extra into a fridge container.

Look at that beautiful color!!

Now I've got a bunch of stuff to do to prepare for tomorrow's rehearsal. I *might* make some orange garam masala mustard later.... 

ADDENDUM: I love the sound of the jar lids sealing! To celebrate that sweet sound, here's a video of Kiriku Handbell Ensemble playing "Plink! Plank! Plunk!"