Orange Marmalade

I reached for some sugar-free marmalade the other day and hubby had used it all up without telling me so I could replenish.  I really wanted some for my low-carb toast, so I grabbed my last 3 California naval oranges out of the refrigerator crisper and decided I was gonna try to make a batch.  The result was pretty good, so I’ll share with you here.  This recipe is not suitable until the fruit rung of the OWL ladder.  I like to add 1 drop orange food coloring to mine, but this is not necessary.  And it goes without saying this can be turned into lime marmalade, or lemon marmalade by substituting about 6 lemons or limes for the recipe.  If you’ve never had lime and lemon, you’re in for a real treat!  Be prepared to have to increase the sweetener for lemon and lime marmalade.

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium oranges

Orange juice from 3 oranges (I got about 1 cup)

Peeling from 3 oranges (about 1½-2 cups)

Water to equal 2½ cups total liquid with the juice above

1 c. granular erythritol sweetener

½ c. granular Splenda  (use liquid Splenda to lower carbs nearly half what is shown below)

1 packet (9 grams) unflavored gelatin

DIRECTIONS:  Wash oranges and slice off all the peeling in largish pieces, trying to get as little of the white membrane as possible.  This membrane will make your final marmalade a bit more bitter/intense.  I am perhaps unique in that I actually like a slightly bitter/not-too-sweet marmalade, but most do not.  Cut peeling into matchstick slivers and if you like, place in food processor or blender and pulse to chop as fine as you like it.

Now cut the oranges in half and squeeze out as much juice and pulp as you can, avoiding any section membrane getting into the juice.  I do this with my hands, but you can use a strainer if you prefer.  Take care to not get seeds into the mix.  Add enough water to equal a total of 2½ cups liquid.  Place juice/water mixture into a saucepan along with sweeteners, gelatin and peel and stir to dissolve.  Turn on burner to medium and cook/stirring for about 5-10 minutes.  Turn off fire, add red/yellow food coloring if desired to make it more orange.  Chill a bit before spooning into 4 small jelly jars (I got mine into 3 jars).  Will get thicker overnight in the refrigerator.  You may have to stir the marmalade a bit right before serving if the peeling bits are fairly coarse/large, as the larger they are, the more they tend to sink before the gelatin sets.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4-4½ cups or 36 servings of 2T. each.  Each serving contains:

11.33 cals, 0.03g fat, 2.35g carbs, 0.58g fiber, 1.77g NET CARBS, 0.63g  protein