Light, fresh and zesty, this zingy grapefruit marmalade recipe with pink or yellow grapefruit makes a refreshing alternative that you’ll want to make again and again.
Grapefruit marmalade recipe
Grapefruit makes a delicious and slightly unusual preserve, light, bright and fresh with a hint of that classic citrus sharpness balancing the sweet.
See also
- Read our guide to setting point.
- These Marmalade tips will increase your confidence in the kitchen
- Orange marmalade is easy with this classic recipe
- If you prefer to use an electric pressure cooker, follow the instructions in the Instant pot Seville orange marmalade
- Marmalade loaf cake is a great way to enjoy your homemade marmalade.
One of the great things about this grapefruit marmalade recipe is that you can make it all year round. There’s no waiting around for those special Seville oranges to hit the shops and then disappear again within a couple of weeks.
Whether you have run out of homemade orange marmalade or just fancy something different, this easy recipe is well worth a try.
The results are certain to be better than shop bought, because you can adjust the sweetness and the shred to taste. I like pink grapefruit marmalade for a warmer colour, golden with a rosy glow as shown in the photos.
You can opt for the delicate pale yellow varieties instead if you prefer.
This grapefruit marmalade recipe is very easy to make. It needs a little time but no real effort, so set aside a morning or evening in the kitchen and unwind.
What is marmalade?
Marmalade is a jelly preserve made from the juice and peel of various citrus fruits.
The main difference between marmalade and jam or jelly recipes is the inclusion of water and a longer cooking time to make the citrus zest tender.
Why make grapefruit marmalade?
- it’s delicious – fresh, lively and surprisingly delicate
- better than shop bought
- make it all year round
- an unusual change from orange marmalade
Grapefruit marmalade ingredients
- Grapefruit – Whether you prefer yellow or pink grapefruit in your marmalade, you want unwaxed fruit.
- Lemon – just the juice
- Granulated sugar – it’s there to sweeten and preserve the grapefruit rather than for flavour, so you don’t need anything fancy. You can use a mix of golden or light muscovado with ordinary white sugar if you prefer.
How to make grapefruit marmalade – step by step
Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this grapefruit marmalade recipe perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Wash the grapefruit, then cut in half and juice. The easiest way to juice is with an electric juicer, but if you don’t have one then a traditional manual juicer or reamer will also work perfectly well.
Put the juice in a large, deep pan, such as a stock pot or maslin (preserves) pan, ready to cook.
Using a spoon, scrape the white pith from the inside of the fruit. Place the pith in a muslin cloth and tie it closed.
Step Two – Slice the grapefruit peel. One quick way of doing this is to cut each half peel into three, then stack the three strips on top of each other and cut across into narrow strips.
Marmalade can be thick cut or fine shred. Cut as you prefer, but remember that the jelly will stick to the pieces of peel, so I prefer to cut smaller.
Step Three – Add the grapefruit juice, cut peel and water to the juice in the pan.
Bring to a gentle simmer and cover. Cook for 90 minutes, or until the peel is soft, cooked through, and can be cut easily with a spoon.
I leave the marmalade overnight at this point, with the bag of pith sitting in the mixture. You can carry on with the next stage straight away if you prefer.
Step Four – Remove the bag of pith, squeezing out as much juice as possible. I find that squeezing the bag between two plates works well, especially if the mixture is still hot.
Step Five – Place clean jam jars in the oven, set on low (100°C). Place clean lids in a bowl, open side up. Fill the bowl with boiling water, covering the lids. By making sure the lids are open side up, they will fill with water. To use the lids, just drain and shake dry.
Add the lemon juice and sugar to the saucepan, and heat the marmalade on a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Stir frequently.
Once all the sugar has dissolved, check the flavour to see if is sweet enough for you. Add up to 300 g more sugar if you prefer a sweeter marmalade. Take care – the mixture is hot!
Step Six – Bring the marmalade up to a fast rolling boil. Then, after 5 minutes, start testing for set.
3 ways of testing marmalade setting points
- The temperature test. Really accurate electronic jam thermometers are readily available, and not expensive. They are much easier to read than traditional thermometers. Heat the marmalade to 105°C and then look for a thickening of the liquid.
However use temperature only as a guide to setting point. - The wrinkle test. Place a couple of side plates in the freezer before you add the sugar. Once the marmalade is boiling, start testing by placing some on the plate. Allow it to cool and when you push your finger through the marmalade. If it’s setting, you’ll see it wrinkle up a little ahead of your finger. This technique takes a bit of practice.
- The flake test. Take a spoonful of marmalade from the pan and turn it vertically to tip it out. If the marmalade runs off quickly and completely, it hasn’t set. If a little remains on the spoon in a sort of wide drip, then the marmalade is ready. Again, this works best with some practice.
Once the setting point has been reached, remove your grapefruit marmalade from the heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. This allows the marmalade to thicken, so that the peel remains in place in the jar and doesn’t all float to the top.
Step Seven – Fill the jars with marmalade and screw on the lids. I find a jam funnel and a pyrex glass jug the easiest way to do this. Allow to cool completely. The lids should pop as a vacuum forms.
How much marmalade will this recipe yield?
This recipe yielded 4 jars of grapefruit marmalade. As you can see from the photograph, I used the wide-mouthed continental style jam jars.
This was around 1kg (4 cups) of jam.
Serving suggestions
Enjoy your yellow or pink grapefruit marmalade on your morning toast in the classic style. Pair it with sharp hard cheese, if you’re feeling daring.
Melt it into a sweet sauce for pancakes and puddings.
Add it to delicious marinades.
Substitute grapefruit marmalade for orange marmalade in a sticky marmalade cake.
Variations
- For some variety, you can use a mixture of sugar: try 50:50 white granulated sugar and light muscovado sugar.
- For a grown-ups only marmalade, stir 4 tablespoons of gin into the pan just before filling the jars (based on 1 kg of grapefruit). Or experiment with other drinks – maybe aperol, or vermouth?
Storage
Store your pink grapefruit marmalade in a cool dark cupboard. It will last for years unopened. Once opened, use within a few weeks.
Don’t keep marmalade in the fridge. It is more liable to crystallise if you do, and this spoils the texture.
Ingredient ratios for grapefruit marmalade
- Water – 2.5 litres of water per 1 kg of unpeeled grapefruit.
- Lemon juice – The juice of half a lemon per grapefruit.
- Sugar – I double the weight of grapefruit to calculate the weight of sugar. Taste, and add more sugar if you need to. Take care, as the mixture will be hot!
Hints and tips
- Never try to pour hot preserves into cold jars, because the jars may crack or shatter.
- You don’t have to add the sugar and set the marmalade right away. If you don’t have time to do it all in one go, you can peel and cook the grapefruit and then let them cool.
Allow the mixture to stand overnight covered, with the bag of pith and pips left in the peel mixture. Remove as normal before adding the sugar.
- I find the easiest way to fill the jars is to ladle marmalade into a Pyrex shatterproof glass jug, and pour it into the jars through a jam funnel. If you fill to just touching the bottom of the funnel, this leaves a small gap at the top of the jar which will help it to seal.
- I like to stand the jars in a roasting tin while I fill them to contain any mess.
FAQs
I have never found that this produces satisfactory results. The peel doesn’t cook properly, and there isn’t really a suitable method of checking for set while the marmalade boils.
If you want faster marmalade, try my pressure cooker marmalade.
Yes and no. The flavours are slightly different, so pick the one you prefer. Visually, they are different, but both look and taste good.
No. There’s pectin in the pith and pips, and that is why you put them in a cloth and add it to the boiling. The pectin comes out into the juice and you throw away the pith and pips.
Yes! Lemon marmalade, lime marmalade and mixed citrus marmalades are all delicious.
More jam and jelly recipes
We love to preserve and have so many recipes for jams and jellies, all with step by step instructions so you can make successful jam, batch after batch. If you like this traditional orange marmalade recipe, why not try them?
Most of our jam recipes are small batch and none need added pectin.
Grapefruit Marmalade
Ingredients
- 2 grapefruit (700 g whole)
- 1 lemon (juice only)
- 1.5 litres water
- 1.2 kg granulated sugar
Instructions
- Wash the grapefruit. Then cut in half and juice them. Put the juice in the pan, reserving the pith and pips, and the peels.2 grapefruit
- Place the collected pith and pips onto a square of muslin, or jelly bag. Tie tightly shut.
- Slice the peel into narrow strips, and add to the juice.
- Add the water and the bag of pips and pith to the pan.1.5 litres water
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, and cook for 90 minutes, uncovered, until the peel is cooked. Check that the peel is soft and will cut easily with a spoon.
- Remove the bag of pips and squeeze the juice from the bag into the pan. One easy way of doing this is by pressing the bag between two plates.
- Prepare clean jam jars. Arrange them on a roasting dish and place in the oven on a low heat.
- Add the sugar to the pan, together with the lemon juice.1 lemon, 1.2 kg granulated sugar
- Heat the mixture on a low setting to dissolve the sugar. Keep stirring as it dissolves.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a fast rolling boil. Keep boiling for 5–10 minutes, until you have reached the setting point. Check for a set.
Testing for setting point. Use one or more of these three methods.
- The temperature test. Really accurate electronic jam thermometers are readily available, and not expensive. They are much easier to read than traditional thermometers. Heat the marmalade to the 105°C and once it's that hot it should at at setting point. I always double check and test with a wrinkle test.
- The wrinkle test. Place a couple of side plates in the freezer before you add the sugar. Once the marmalade is boiling, start testing by placing some on the plate. Allow it to cool and when you push your finger through the marmalade, If it's setting, you'll see it wrinkle up a little ahead of your finger. This technique takes a bit of practice.
- The flake test. Take a spoonful of marmalade from the pan and turn it vertically to tip it out. If the marmalade runs off quickly and completely it hasn't set. If, however a little remains on the spoon in a sort of wide drip that doesn't fall, then the marmalade is ready. Again, this works best with some practice.
Once setting point has been reached
- Let the marmalade cool for about 10 minutes, and then transfer to the warmed jam jars. Fit the lids and allow to cool completely.
Notes
Ingredient ratios
- Water – 2.5 litres of water per 1 kg of unpeeled grapefruit.
- Lemon juice – Add the juice of half a lemon per 250 g (about 3) grapefruit.
- Sugar – I double the weight of grapefruit to calculate the weight of sugar. Taste, and add more sugar if you need to. Take care, as the mixture will be hot!
Hints and tips
- Never try to pour hot preserves into cold jars, as the jars may crack or shatter.
- You don’t have to add the sugar and set the marmalade right away. If you don’t have time to do it all in one go, you can peel and cook the grapefruit and then let them cool.
Allow the mixture to stand overnight covered, with the bag of pith and pips left in the peel mixture. Remove as normal before adding the sugar.
- I find the easiest way to fill the jars is to ladle marmalade into a Pyrex shatterproof glass jug, and pour it into the jars through a jam funnel. Fill to just touching the bottom of the funnel, which leaves a small gap at the top of the jar.
- I like to stand the jars in a roasting tin while I fill them to contain any mess.
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