Orange Jelly

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Citrus press
• •Jelly bag or fine-mesh sieve lined with damp muslin
• •Wide 4-quart (4-liter) stainless-steel or enameled preserving pan
• •Fine grater
• •Digital sugar thermometer
• •Two small saucers for set testing
• •Four 8-ounce (240 ml) heatproof glass jars with lids

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare jars and tests

   Wash four 8-ounce (240 ml) heatproof jars and their lids in hot soapy water, rinse well, and keep the jars warm by filling them with hot water. Put two small saucers in the freezer for testing the set. This version treats the old instruction to pour the gelée into pots as refrigerated preserving; hot filling alone does not make a jar safe for pantry storage.

   Warm glass accepts hot gelée without a nasty temperature shock. Empty and dry each jar only when you are ready to fill it.
2. 2

   Make the orange sugar

   Before juicing, finely grate only the bright outer zest from 2 oranges into the additional tablespoon of sugar. Rub zest and sugar firmly between your fingertips until the sugar is damp, vivid orange, and intensely fragrant, then cover it and set it aside. Stop before the white pith, which brings bitterness. This orange sugar replaces rubbing loaf sugar against the rind and grating it with a hard knife; the equipment changes, the extraction does not.

3. 3

   Press and filter

   Press the oranges thoroughly without grinding the bitter pith into the juice. Pass the juice through a fine sieve, then through a damp muslin-lined sieve or jelly bag under its own weight until you have 3½ cups (830 ml / 850 g). Do not squeeze the cloth, tempting though it is; pressure forces pulp through and clouds the gelée. Filter the apple juice in the same way. If the oranges give a little extra juice, refrigerate it for loosening an over-firm batch.

   Dampen and wring out the muslin before filtering. Dry cloth drinks a surprising amount of the juice you worked to press.
4. 4

   Dissolve the sugar

   Put the 2¼ cups (454 g) sugar in a wide nonreactive pan and scatter the water over it. Warm very gently for about 30 seconds, turning the pan until the damp crystals begin to look translucent but take no color. Immediately pour in the filtered orange and apple juices. Stir over low heat until every sugar crystal dissolves, then stop stirring. If crystals cling to the sides, cover the pan for one minute so condensation washes them down, or brush them away with a clean wet pastry brush. Ça se rattrape; loose crystals left above the syrup are what can seed a grainy jar.

5. 5

   Boil to the set

   Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, one that continues even when the pan is moved. Boil briskly, skimming only heavy foam, until it reaches 219 to 221°F (104 to 105°C), about 18 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat while you test: drop a teaspoonful onto a frozen saucer, wait 30 seconds, then push it with a fingertip. It is ready when the surface wrinkles softly and the path stays open. If it floods back together, boil for two more minutes and test again. A thermometer guides you, but the wrinkle gives the verdict; repeated short boils rescue an under-set gelée without cooking away all its brightness.

6. 6

   Rest and perfume

   Take the pan off the heat, skim away the remaining foam, and leave the gelée undisturbed for 10 minutes. Stir in the reserved orange sugar until its crystals disappear, then fold in the candied rind if using. This pause is the dish: the gelée remains hot enough to dissolve the perfumed sugar but is no longer boiling away the oils in the zest. If the candied strips rise immediately, wait two minutes and stir once more; the slightly thickened gelée will hold them in suspension.

7. 7

   Pot and chill

   Empty and dry the warm jars, then ladle in the gelée, leaving about ½ inch (1 cm) at the top. Wipe the rims, close the lids, cool for no longer than one hour, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours before judging the set. If it remains pourable after a full chill, return it to the pan and boil again until the cold-saucer test wrinkles properly. If it sets too firmly, rewarm it gently with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of reserved filtered orange juice for each cup (240 ml) of gelée. Ça se rattrape.

Chef Tips

• •Choose fragrant, untreated or unwaxed oranges because their rind is an ingredient, not packaging. If the peel smells of nothing when scratched, it cannot perfume the sugar; this is one preserve that deserves better fruit rather than more flavoring.
• •The apple juice supplies the pectin that plain orange juice lacks. Use fresh-pressed juice from sharp apples or juice prepared for jelly-making, then filter it. Crystal-clear shelf-stable apple juice may have been treated until much of its useful pectin is gone.
• •Gelée reaches its setting point at roughly 8°F (4°C) above the temperature at which water boils in your kitchen. At elevation, use that difference rather than insisting on the sea-level number, then confirm with the cold-saucer test.
• •Candied orange rind makes the jars especially handsome for a holiday table, but it remains optional. The clear gelée with orange sugar alone is complete.
• •Serve the gelée on toasted brioche, alongside a country terrine, or whisk a spoonful into the finishing juices of roast duck. Its brightness belongs wherever richness needs a clean orange edge. À table!

Advance Preparation

• •Make the gelée at least one day before serving. The set establishes during its first 12 hours in the refrigerator, while the orange perfume settles through the jar.
• •The orange sugar can be rubbed together one day ahead and kept tightly covered in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature while the juice boils so it dissolves readily.
• •Keep every jar refrigerated and use within one month, taking portions with a clean spoon. For room-temperature pantry storage, use a laboratory-tested canning formula and the processing instructions issued for your altitude.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)