With still more Meyer lemons leftover, I embarked on a Meyer Lemon Marmalade. What could be more fun and delicious to have on hand with homemade scones, biscuits, toast from a great rustic bread or all manner of desserts and fillings?
Shall we get to it?
Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Ingredients: Makes: approximately 4 half-pint jars
- 4 cups of prepared Meyer lemons
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup Meyer lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups sugar
Directions:
Clean and sterilize your jars. Place a two small plates and spoons in the freezer.
Thoroughly wash the Meyer lemons to remove any wax and residue. Cut lemons in half lengthwise. Cut out the center pith of each half leaving a notch. Over a bowl with a small strainer remove the seeds by running your finger down the middle of the groove a few times. Strain the seeds reserving any juice. Place the seeds in a small muslin bag.
Slice each half as thinly as possible. Measure the sliced lemons to achieve 4 cups. Combine the Meyer lemons, water, lemon juice, the bag of seeds, and sugar in a large, nonreactive pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until the rinds are tender, and the mixture just begins to thicken. Remove the seed bag, squeezing it a bit to release any juice and discard the seed bag. Stirring occasionally, continue to simmer the mixture until it begins to coat the back of a spoon and runs off in a sheet instead of a thin stream. Be patient; this may take up to an hour or so.
When the mixture begins to coat the spoon, start checking for doneness. Using the frozen plate and spoon, place a small amount of the jam on the chilled plate. Place the dish back in the refrigerator for 1 minute. Tilt the plate to check for jelling, if it stays put or hardly moves you’re good. One final test I do is to run my finger through the mixture, if it forms a firm line and crinkles a bit on the sides, it’s done. If neither happens, clean the plate and spoon and place them back in the freezer and repeat this process every few minutes until you’ve reached a proper level of jelling/thickness.
Using a canning funnel, ladle the hot Meyer lemon marmalade into the clean sterilized jars leaving ¼″ headspace. Wipe the rims clean, attach the lids, label, date, and store the marmalade in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or freeze in freezer jars for up to a year. When frozen, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use.
Notes: For this Meyer lemon marmalade recipe, the ratio of lemons to liquid to sugar should always be about the same. The amount of water to lemon juice is up to you as long as the total equals the amount of liquid needed. Why use the seeds? The seeds provide the natural pectin needed to set the marmalade. Obviously, you can double the recipe if desired. I did because I had a large quantity of Meyer lemons. The same method can be used to make any citrus marmalade such as orange (less sugar may be advisable for oranges), or regular lemon. When the rinds of the citrus are thick, discard peices with a large amount or are all pith. For something fun, a combination of lemons and oranges is great too.
Like me, if you happen to have more lemons than you need, not to worry, zest, juice and freeze both for another day.
This was the perfect activity for a lazy rainy Sunday. The results were nothing short of spectacular. It helped that the Meyer lemons were fresh off the tree.
I’ve boxed up a few of my jars to give to my friend who gave me the bounty of Meyer lemons. I think she’ll love this as much as I do. Oh wait, this may result in more Meyer lemons. 😄
Time to eat…
If you enjoyed my “Meyer Lemon Marmalade,” check out my Freezer Plum Jam, Homemade Raspberry or Blackberry Jam, or my Fresh Fig Jam. Enjoy.
P.S. Take a moment to check out and purchase some of the tools I used for this “Meyer Lemon Marmalade” below. 🙂