English Marmalade (a.k.a. Hawksmoor Marmalade Martini)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (81 ratings)
  • English Marmalade (a.k.a. Hawksmoor Marmalade Martini) Image

    English Marmalade (a.k.a. Hawksmoor Marmalade Martini)

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English Marmalade (a.k.a. Hawksmoor Marmalade Martini) image

Photographed in an UB Retro Coupe 1910

Ingredients:
4 barspoon Orange marmalade
2 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1⁄6 oz Strucchi Red Bitter (Campari-style liqueur)
1⁄2 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1⁄4 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
1 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
  3. STIR 4 flat barspoons marmalade with other ingredients in base of shaker to dissolve the marmalade.
  4. SHAKE with ice.
  5. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  6. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 6/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

The addition of bitter liqueur and aromatic bitters to the classic 1930 recipe from The Savoy Cocktail Book, lifts the Marmalade Cocktail to a new level of bittersweet complexity.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Marmalade Cocktail - with orange marmalade, dry gin and lemon juice.
Breakfast Martini - with orange marmalade, dry gin, triple sec and lemon juice.
Milanese Breakfast Martini - with orange marmalade, dry gin, red bitter liqueur, lemon juice and prosecco.
Paddington Bear Martini - with orange marmalade, dry gin, pisco and bianco vermouth.
Breakfast Gimlet - with orange marmalade, dry gin, lime cordial and lemon juice.
20 best Marmalade, preserves & conserves cocktails

History:

Adapted from a recipe discovered in 2013 at Hawksmoor in Spitalfields, London, England. Huw Gott, Hawksmoor's co-founder, says the cocktail went on the menu soon after the restaurant and bar opened in 2006.

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 11 comments for English Marmalade (a.k.a. Hawksmoor Marmalade Martini).
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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
6th June at 16:40
WOW! Taking the breakfast martini to the next level! INTENSELY bitter sweet. I followed the spec recipe and found it correctly balanced. Serious depth of flavour and not for the faint hearted!
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Terry Wattley’s Avatar Terry Wattley
4th May at 12:23
I really liked this. I was worried it was going to be too sweet with the marmalade and sugar syrup (and my wife did say it was very sweet) but with a bitter orange marmalade it felt just right, with the bitterness and the lemon balancing the sweetness well. I loved the viscosity the marmalade and sugar syrup gave too.

This will definitely be added to the list of regulars.
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Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
5th May 2023 at 19:10
I'm very glad I have a sweet tooth because this is a lot sweeter than you'd think. I'd halve the sugar, if not quarter it.

I don't think you want to cut the marmalade because it's gorgeous.
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Chris Dimal’s Avatar Chris Dimal
21st January 2024 at 12:42
I absolutely agree. I'd maybe even consider cutting the syrup entirely. But never cut the orange marmalade, it's what makes the drink so incredible.
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Phil Harrison’s Avatar Phil Harrison
25th August 2022 at 09:40
I had some fancy orange/ginger/Chardonnay marmalade in the fridge, so I gave it a whirl, four level(ish) barspoons. Outstanding :)
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Loraine Herring’s Avatar Loraine Herring
27th November 2020 at 21:00
Jonathan Stephans, you are deffo correct on the Marmalade, we stopped at 6 teaspoons of Bonne Maman marmalade and it took forever to dissolve
2 per drink sounds right
3
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Benjamin Chesterton’s Avatar Benjamin Chesterton
14th November 2020 at 20:51
Lovely recipe. Thankyou. I definitely didn't need the extra sugar. Even without it was sweet.
2
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Jonathan Stephens’ Avatar Jonathan Stephens
30th October 2020 at 18:37
Finally got it right (too much marmalade first couple of times). Fantastic with 2 level teaspoons of marmalade (IMO). New favourite
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Nicola Brown’s Avatar Nicola Brown
25th October 2020 at 20:57
Loved it and followed Gordon's suggestion to use chambord. Wish we could post pics
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Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
26th October 2020 at 07:30
Hi Nicola. If you click "ADD YOUR VERSION OF THIS RECIPE" (under the cocktail image) this will allow you to upload your photograph along with any tweaks to the recipe and accompanying comments.
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Gordon ’s Avatar Gordon
25th October 2020 at 05:45
This is fantastic. I love this cocktail.
I dont think it even needs the sugar syrup unless you have a sweet tooth. I do, so I experimented and swapped it with 15ml of Chambord. Wow!
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Tony Jones’ Avatar Tony Jones
17th October 2020 at 17:15
This is superb.
Doesn't feel strong - it's fresh and zingy.
I've bought 3x 40g jars of marmalade for £1, so I'll be enjoying a few of these.
1
reply
Loraine Herring’s Avatar Loraine Herring
27th November 2020 at 21:01
cheapskate ....go bonne marman its worth it believe me
1
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