Orange Pomegranate Ginger And Mint Marmalade

January is traditionally the month for making marmalade for this is when Seville oranges are in season. However my orange pomegranate and ginger marmalade with mint can be made with any type of oranges and the crunch of seasonal pomegranate seeds makes it even more special and seasonal too.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Juicy sweet oranges, the almost bitter pop and crunch of the pomegranate seeds. The punchy heat of ginger and the cool herbal hint of the mint. This is one hell of a flavourfest.

Everyone loves a lively marmalade to wake up their toast in the morning, and this one’s a winner.

You can use this marmalade as a glaze for roasts, in gravy and even in some Asian recipes too.

Scottish marmalade

Marmalade all started in Scotland way back when a ship load of oranges from Seville got stuck in the port at Dundee and a Mrs Keeler took them on and turned them into an orange jam. The Keelers went on to be famous producers of marmalade and jams and are known worldwide.

Pomegranates

Pomegranates are botanically classified as Punica granatum. The name comes from two French words, “pome” and “granate” literally meaning “apple with many seeds”.

Though usually, the standard red variety is all the general public is exposed to, Pomegranates can range in color fruit from pink, white, yellow and purple. In fact, it is estimated that there are some 500 different cultivars of Pomegranate grown world-wide.

The Pomegranate is referenced throughout historical legend and lore. In Greek myth, Hades, god of the underworld, tricked Persephone into eating Pomegranate seeds and forced her to return back to him every winter, making her goddess of the underworld.

Biblically, though the apple commonly appears in depictions of the Garden of Eden, many people actually believe that the pomegranate was the real forbidden fruit.

Ingredients for this orange and pomegranate marmalade

Not many ingredients for you to worry about here folks. Just oranges (I used normal oranges not Seville oranges), pomegranate, fresh ginger root, mint and sugar.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

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Making marmalade

A lot of people are put off making marmalade having visions of spending hours finely chopping orange peel then boiling the stuff for simply ages.

Relax my friends, this is easy – I just simmered the oranges in water for an hour to soften these guys up.

Next I chopped my oranges into quarters and put this through my food processor. I use the pulse switch so I can keep checking to see how rough the chop is.

You don’t want just switch the thing on and leave it or you’ll end up with orange pulp.

Alternative method

If you want more texture then keep half the peel aside and finely chop with a knife and then add this to the pulp when cooking.

This half and half method gives your orange and pomegranate marmalade a bit more texture which is always nice.

Put the orange pips/seeds in a muslin bag and chuck this in your preserving pan along with the orange pulp, pomegranate seeds and juice, grated ginger and sugar.

Heat gently till the sugar dissolves then boil till you get that magical setting point. You add the chopped mint at the last minute before potting into sterilised jars.

The inspiration for this marmalade

I came up with this marmalade recipe before Christmas. The ingredients are all really rather festive with oranges, pomegranates and ginger being the stars of the show.

I will freely admit that there isn’t anything very festive about mint but it does work rather well in this marmalade.

How much marmalade does this recipe make?

I got 4 x 350g jars of orange, pomegranate, ginger and mint marmalade from this recipe. Want more? Then just multiply the ingredients to suit yourself.

How long will this marmalade keep?

It will keep in a cool dark place for up to a year. If you really want to you can water bath can it for  10 minutes.

Using this marmalade

Okay so your morning toast is by far the most obvious use for your marmalade but this orange, pomegranate, ginger and mint marmalade has so many more uses.

Use it to add some extra flavour for gravy, especially for chicken, turkey or pork.

You can thin the marmalade a little with water and use it as a glaze when roasting a ham/gammon or pork joint.

This is a great marmalade to add to your cheeseboard and goes particularly well with an extra mature cheddar.

Spread it on your toasted cheese sandwich.

Add it to a sweet and sour pork stir fry for an extra element of flavour.

This recipe makes a great foodie gift, so why not check out my post on how to make Christmas hampers.

Looking for more delicious marmalade ideas to try? Then check these out before you go;

Scotch whisky and ginger marmalade

Spicy citrus jam/marmalade

Spiced cranberry and orange marmalade

Mediterranean fig and lemon marmalade

Hot and spicy red pepper marmalade

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.