Peachy Marmalade

Yield: 3 pints

Ingredients

4 pounds peaches (about 8-10 peaches, approximately 6 cups chopped)

2 large Cara-Cara oranges (approximately 2 cups chopped)

2 1/2-3 cups Turbinado sugar

2 lemons

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (no seeds)

Use a fine tea strainer to strain the seeds from the red pepper flakes. Tap the strainer over a piece of parchment paper to allow red pepper flakes to fall onto paper. Continue until ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes have fallen on the parchment paper. Flakes provide a different result than ground red pepper.

Steps

1. Freeze a glass plate.
2. Fill a stainless steel bowl with very cold water.
3. Fill a 3 quart sauce pan halfway with cold water and bring to a boil.
4. Drop 2 peaches into the boiling water and boil for one minute.
5. Use a Chinese spider ladle to remove peaches and place in bowl of cold water.
6. Lift out one peach and remove skin. Repeat with second peach.
7. Place skinned peaches in a bowl.
8. Continue process until all peaches have been peeled.
9. Cut each peeled peach in half and remove pit.
10. Chop peaches into ½ “ pieces, place in a bowl and add 2 ½ cups sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar.
11. Remove the orange zest.
12. Remove any pith from the back of the zest by scraping with a sharp knife. Discard pith.
13. Cut orange zest into slivers and set aside.
14. Roughly chop orange pulp and remove all seeds. Add to peaches.
15. Remove zest from lemons. Remove any pith from the back side by scraping with a sharp knife. Cut in slivers. Remove pith from lemon and discard.
16. Roughly chop lemon pulp, removing all seeds and add to peaches.
17. The sweetness of the peaches and oranges will affect the amount of sugar required, Start with 2 ½ cups and then adjust by tasting after the marmalade is cooked (See below). Add sugar if desired by first adding 1/4 cup. Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Taste and make additional adjustments 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time. If mixture is too sweet, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, stir thoroughly, taste and repeat until desired taste is achieved.
18. Empty water from 3 quart sauce pan. Fill with 4 cups cold water. Place orange and lemon zest in water. Bring to a boil.
19. Reduce heat and boil for 5 minutes. Drain water, leaving zest in the saucepan. Fill saucepan again with 4 cups cold water.
20. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Strain zest slivers and place in stock pot.
21. Add oranges, lemon and peaches to zest.
22. Bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 40-60 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching.
23. When mixture becomes thick, test by removing the plate from freezer. Place a teaspoon of marmalade on the plate.  Marmalade is done when a spoonful of marmalade leaves a thick path of liquid as it is pushed around on the plate.
24. Add strained red pepper flakes. Stir thoroughly to combine.
25. Taste, adding lemon juice or sugar as desired. See Cook’s Note about adding sugar and lemon juice, above.
26. Can marmalade in sterilized jars with sterilized lids.
27. Allow to cool on counter.
28. Keep chilled.