Scrub oranges. Put into a large pan with the 6 pints of water. Simmer until skin is tender and easily pierced - this takes about 1-1/2 hours, and the water reduces in quantity. Take out the oranges, cool and halve. Leave water in the pan. Remove pips from oranges and tie them into a piece of muslin , leaving a string so that the bag can be hung from the pan handle and bob about in the cooking marmalade. Either cut the halves into strips of the size you like, or put the halves; batch by batch into a food processor and pulse, until it is the right consistency. Be careful not to overdo the processing or you will end up with pulp. Put back into pan of water, and add the warmed sugar Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and boil vigorously for about 10 minutes until setting point is reached (drop a little onto an ice cube - a quicker and more efficient test than the usual cold saucer.) Leave for 15 minutes for the peel to settle. Stir the marmalade, discard the bag of pips, then fill hot sterilized pots or jars and seal. You may pour in some Cointreau when the marmalade comes off the heat. It does give an extra zest. Note: if you use a pressure cooker, put half the whole oranges into the pan with 1 1/2 pints water. Bring to steaming, put on 15 lb. Weight and pressure cook for 15 minutes. Cool rapidly under the tap, remove the weight and lid. Tip out and repeat with the remaining oranges and the same quantity of water. The simplest, easiest and best-flavoured marmalade. You can adapt the recipe to a mixture of three fruits, lemon, orange and grapefruit for instance. And if you have a pressure cooker, you can cook the fruit in two separate batches and save time.

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