orange jelly

Orange jelly was my jamming project this week. I love all things citrus (comes from growing up in Florida), and while marmalade has its rewards, I wanted to make something a little easier and different.  The result is like a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in jam form.  

I used Pomona’s Universal Pectin in order to be able to reduce the sugar and get the tart flavor I was seeking. It’s a 2-part pectin consisting of a powder and a calcium water mixture that activates the gelling properties of the pectin– that’s what the pectin pwder and calcium water are doing in the recipe below, so no substitutions, please.  You will get nowhere if you try to substitute another pectin for the powder in this recipe. Pomona allows a couple of things that I find very handy: the ability to reduce or substitute sugar by as much as you like, and the ability to make very small test batches of new recipes so you don’t get stuck with a dozen jars of something you’re not even sure will turn out right.  I don’t think this recipe would be quite as wonderful with regular pectin since you’d have to use a lot more sugar to get it to gel.

Orange Sunshine Jelly

2 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

juice of 1 lemon

finely grated zest of 3 oranges

1/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. honey

2 sprigs rosemary (3-4 inches long)

2 tsp calcium water

1 tsp pectin powder

In a pan, combine the juices, calcium powder, zest, and rosemary. Bring to a boil. In a small bowl, mix together well the sugar, honey, and pectin powder.  Stir into the juice mixture, bring back to boil, and stir well for 1-2 minutes to dissolve the pectin. Remove the rosemary sprigs, and pour into hot sterilized jars. Process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes, or keep in the refrigerator. Makes 3 half pint jars.