Lemon marmalade

Lemon marmalade

Homemade marmalade needn't be hard work - this simple method cooks lemons whole to start, saving time and effort

Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

MAKES 6 x 450ml jars

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 3 hrs

plus cooling

Method

  1. Chill a saucer in the freezer, ready for checking the setting point of your jam. Wash the lemons and remove the top 'button' which would have been attached to the stalk. Put the lemons in a large saucepan with 2.5 litres water. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and simmer for 2½ hrs or until the lemon skins are lovely and tender, and can be pierced easily with a fork.
  2. When the lemons are cool enough to handle, remove from the saucepan. Measure the cooking liquid - you'll need 1.5 litres in total. If you don't quite have this, make up the difference with water. If you have too much liquid, bring to the boil and reduce to the required amount.
  3. Halve the lemons and remove the pips - reserving the pips and any lemon juice that oozes out during the process. Cut the lemon peel and flesh into strips, as thick or thin as you like. Put all of this, including any juices, back into the pan. Put the pips in a small piece of muslin and tie up with string. Add this to the pan, as the pips will aid the setting process of the jam.
  4. Add the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring until it has completely dissolved. Boil rapidly for about 20 mins until setting point is reached. Test the setting point by dropping a little marmalade onto the chilled saucer, allowing it to cool for 1 min, then pushing gently with your finger. If the marmalade crinkles, the setting point is reached; if not, continue to boil and check again in a few mins.
  5. Leave to cool for 10-15 mins (this will prevent the lemon shreds sinking to the bottoms of the jars), remove the muslin bag, then gently stir in one direction to disperse any scum (small air bubbles on the surface). Pour jam into warm sterilised jars and seal straight away.
Try

KNOW-HOW

To sterilise your jars, wash them in hot, soapy water, rinse, then place on a baking tray in a low oven to dry completely. Keep them warm until you fill them.

PER SERVING (15g)

40 kcalories, protein 0g, carbohydrate 10g, fat 0 g, saturated fat 0g, fibre 0g, sugar 10g, salt 0 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2012.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo lemon_farmer

    15 January 2012

    lemon_farmer commented on this recipe

    When separating the lemons, I'm not sure if you're meant to get rid of the pith or not :o/

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  • Binder photo Em r

    18 January 2012

    Em r commented on this recipe

    I put the pith in but bit worried that there were little white dots inside the cooked lemons when I cut them open. Do you think this is normal? Smells lovely mind you!

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  • Binder photo Missy Moo

    21 January 2012

    Missy Moo commented on this recipe

    Could you leave out the flesh and peel, to make shredless marmalade? I'm very lazy (usually use Mamade!) and couldn't be bothered with all the chopping. I realise you'd still have to add the pips during the boiling process.

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  • Binder photo tjwtheresa

    24 January 2012

    tjwtheresa rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    So easy to make, as the recipe suggests it is much easier to slice the lemons when cooked. I used a bit less sugar than stated which gave the marmalade a bit more 'tang'. Will definitely make this again, a lovely alternative to the standard orange marmalade.

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  • Binder photo Firebird

    01 February 2012

    Firebird rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Wow!! Absolutely super, the balance of sweetness and tartness spot on. Found that the lemons didn't take so long to cook as recipe suggests. Definitely a recipe to keep and do again.

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  • Binder photo Aj

    04 February 2012

    Aj commented on this recipe

    Would it be possible to substitute the lemons for limes please? Would I have to add pectin or change the quantities? Thanks

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  • Binder photo Mo Pen

    11 February 2012

    Mo Pen commented on this recipe

    A very easy recipe. I made half the quantity as I didn't have a pan big enough for the full amount but I still got 4 jars out of it. The lemons only took half the time to cook and I felt it was worth the time in finely chopping. Will be making this again soon.

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  • Binder photo MsCupCake

    14 February 2012

    MsCupCake rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy and very lemony - was a great success and again, a beautiful colour. If I did it again (which I probably will!) I won't chop up all the lemon as there was rather a lot of rind, for my liking. MissyMoo I think you could, as long as you balance out the correct proportion of liquid and sugar. A jelly marmalade would be good.

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  • Binder photo dobelove

    15 February 2012

    dobelove rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    A really great alternative to orange marmalade. I juiced and cut the lemons prior to boiling and put the pith from the squeeze and the pips in a square made from gauze bought from pharmacy then tied that to the side of the pot during the boil. This meant that it took appx 1 hour to soft boil the skins, Delia says no lid in her book. I then used a digital thermometer to boil to 104C and left for 10 mins , stirred in a knob of butter then bottled. It went down really, really well. Also this is great to use in the Lemon Bakewells also on this site.

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Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

MAKES 6 x 450ml jars

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 3 hrs

plus cooling

Ingredients

  • 1kg unwaxed lemons
  • 2kg granulated sugar
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PER SERVING (15g)

40 kcalories, protein 0g, carbohydrate 10g, fat 0 g, saturated fat 0g, fibre 0g, sugar 10g, salt 0 g

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