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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  • Binder photo thepeachyone

    05 September 2012

    thepeachyone commented on this recipe

    i made my 3rd batch of this today, and as usual it's delicious! i've slightly altered how i cook it. i cut the fruit into quarters before boiling them. not only does it cut down the cooking time, but the pips come out of the flesh too. i squeeze the lemons with tongs when lifting them from the hot liquid, this makes it far easier to cut them as well as them cooling quicker. i then strain the liquid through a sieve and then push the flesh back into the liquid. the pips are so easy to tie into a small bag then. the colour is amazing and the taste is divine... so i'm told by friends and family who request this fab marmalade on a regular basis :) thanks GF for yet another awesome recipe x

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  • Binder photo aticavo

    27 October 2012

    aticavo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delish! And makes such a lovely present for Christmas!

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  • Binder photo rla556

    06 December 2012

    rla556 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was my first try at making a preserve so I followed the recipe to the letter, putting the pips in a muslin bag and throwing everything else into the pot. It turned out great - sweet, but with a kick. Will be a great addition to this year's Christmas hampers.

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  • Binder photo Mary Milionis

    11 January 2013

    Mary Milionis commented on this recipe

    Thank you for this recipe. Few day ago I was in the island of Paros, Greece. It was a cold winter day with strong winds that not permitted any outdoor activity. The beautiful lemon tree in the garden was full of wonderfully smelling lemons, so I decided to make lemon marmalade. The recipe in your site was the one I chose and it really came out great. Its easy to make and the results are very good. The only change I made is I cut the lemons in four, so the boiling time was much less than 2 hours. Great marmalade for breakfast, very good to add to my Greek yogurt and for gifts for my friends.

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  • Binder photo Socalgranny

    09 March 2013

    Socalgranny commented on this recipe

    The boiling time for the lemons is far too long. 1.5 hours is quite adequate. There was still over 2 liters of liquid left at this time. After removing the lemons and letting them cool, I scraped out the pith and seeds into a double layer of cheesecloth, tied it into a pouch and put this back into the liquid to be able to extract more pectin. I cooked down the liquid for another half hour. Because we have a lemon tree, and are awash in lemons, I reduced the liquid to 1 liter and added another half liter of lemon juice which helped to cool the pouch faster and then I removed the pouch. While the pouch cooled, I sliced the rinds, measured the sugar and put all back into the liquid in the pan. Once the pouch was cool enough to handle, I squeezed out as much pectin as possible, about another 100 ml or so. This is what will make your marmalade set. By not putting the pith back into the jam, it will stay clear and jewel like.

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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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