blood orange marmalade (with scotch!)

so i must admit, i do quite like marmalade. just the right combination of citrus, tartness and sweet. in years past i've made many versions, but i can say without a doubt that this one tops them all! the sweetness of blood oranges and meyer lemons combined with the smokiness of a great scotch. this is as good as it gets - especially once a slice of sourdough toast gets involved. 

after sifting the many recipes online i ended up modifying the basic certo marmalade recipe. it's as easy as can be. i canned two separate batches, and both times it worked like a charm.

blood orange marmalade (makes about 5 1 cup / 250 ml jars)

7-8 small organic blood oranges

2 meyer lemons

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups water

5 cups white sugar

1 packet certo liquid pectin

1 oz good scotch (optional - i used aberlour a'bunadh, what i had on-hand)

1. sterilize jars and lids using your preferred method.
2. slice the top & bottom off of two meyer lemons and three blood oranges. 
3. peel using a sharp knife or veggie peeler. 
4. slice rinds as thinly as possible, in about 2 cm lengths.
5. place peels, water and baking soda in a small saucepan. 
6. bring to a boil over high heat. 
7. cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
8. chop the peeled fruit and reserve (i quarter oranges and chop into 1 cm segments)
9. peel and chop the remaining 3-4 oranges and reserve.
10. make sure you've removed all the seeds!
11. combine boiled peels with enough chopped fruit to total 3 1/2 cups. place fruit in a stock pot.
12. bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for another 10 minutes over medium heat.
13. add the sugar and stir well to combine.
14. bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. 
15. boil hard for one minute.
16. remove from heat.
17. add certo liquid pectin.
18. add scotch if desired.
19. stir to settle any foam that rises.
20. pour into hot jars and seal immediately.
21. place on wire rack to cool for a few hours.