The taste did not disappoint me. The taste was phenomenal. In fact, the taste transported me to a heavenly plane of being, as much as a bite of marmalade toast can. I gathered all of my books on making jam and was somewhat surprised to find that there were so many varied recipes for orange marmalade. Use a vegetable peeler to carefully peel the oranges into long strips, taking care not to have too much pith (white part of the rind) on the rind. If you are not using a sugar thermometer (or even if you are), to test if the marmalade has reached setting point, put a tablespoon of marmalade onto the chilled plate. The colour and texture was exactly what you would expect of a high-quality marmalade. A vibrant dark-ish orange that didn’t look too artificial, strewn with thin strands of orange zest. The consistency, too, looked perfect - it was set enough to just about stay in its jar should you tip it upside down, but still gooey enough to move in a naturally wobbly way. When sniffed, it smelled citrusy, but not overwhelmingly so.

It was also a recipe which used the least amount of sugar; jam recipes often call for 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar and which makes sense if you are preserving for the long haul (i.e. if you are making jam which might be eaten 2 or more years later), but which isn’t necessary if you know you will consume the jam over the coming weeks. If the line remains, the marmalade is ready. If the marmalade fills the line, it is still too liquid and has not yet reached setting point. Next was Tesco with its Fine Cut Orange Marmalade, also 454g but only 70p. This one promised to be more like Bonne Maman than the M&S version thanks to its lighter colour and less stiff, more liquidy consistency. It also incorporated the all-important strands of orange peel, though I noticed that these were much paler in colour and looked more few and far between. Lidl, unsurprisingly, had the most reasonable price. Though only 450g in total compared to 454g of Tesco or M&S, it was only 55p. It also contained 35g of fruit per 100g, which puts its orange content above even Bonne Maman’s, while sugar was only 60g. The ingredients list was more simple than some of the other supermarket versions: sugar, oranges, water, citric acid and pectin as a gelling agent. Take a moment to treat yourself to a leisurely breakfast, enjoying the harmony of flavours as you spread marmalade on your favourite bread. And don't forget to try it with a cup of warm tea for a comforting and delicious indulgence. Make sure you put the milkin the tea if that’s how you like it!Remove segments of the oranges between the membranes. Do this over a large bowl to catch all of the juice.

In consistency, it was similar to Tesco’s, too. Not quite as wet as Bonne Maman’s but definitely no jelly, either. The colour, meanwhile, was spot on for Bonne Maman’s. The marmalade itself was the exact same shade of orange, while the strands of peel looked nicely dark in comparison.Lidl and Tesco are also very reasonably priced alternatives though, for a tasty budget marmalade. M&S had a decent flavour, too, though you’ll need to see past its alarming jelly-like quality. To test if your jam is ready, place a spoonful of hot jam onto the cold plate, and use your finger (or a teaspoon) to run a line through the blob of jam. If you’re worried that there is too little mixture in the pot, you might be using a pot which is too big. Although, you don’t want to use one that is too small either because the mixture needs room to bubble away viciously without burning your hands as you stir to avoid it catching at the bottom of the pan! Either way, you get 370g of marmalade, of which every 100g contains 30g of fruit and 60g of sugar. The other ingredients are sugar, bitter oranges, water, brown cane sugar, concentrated lemon juice and fruit pectin as a gelling agent. So far, so good. Taste buds primed with Bonne Maman, it was now time to test out the other marmalades to see if any of the alternatives were any better. M&S was up first with its Shredless Orange Marmalade.

However, I find that, even when using a thermometer, sometimes the jam is ready before or after reaching the desired temperatures. The Lime Marmalade was introduced in the 1930s. Its slogan in the 1940s was The Difference is Delightful. It was marketed as a British Empire Product. During the war it was restricted under the jam ration. In July 1955 the lime juice gained a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Her Majesty. The company was the sole distributor of Dubonnet in the UK from 1938. Despite being seemingly overset, the taste was pretty good. As you might expect, it was seriously sugary, tasting more like an orange sweet with an undertone of bitterness thrown in. I would expect a sugar crash after an entire piece of toast with this on top, though the slice will admittedly be rather tasty. This particular orange marmalade is quite sweet, primarily because it uses sweet, blonde oranges and not the bitter Seville oranges.Use a sharp knife to remove as much pith as possible from the oranges, as the pith will make the marmalade bitter. Also, this marmalade recipe is quite persistent in trying to remove as much pith as possible, and blanching the peel beforehand helps to soften it so that you are not confronted with a chunk of bitter peel later. Ginger Marmalade The best way to test if a jam has reached setting point is to use a digital thermometer, sugar thermometer or jam thermometer.