The Lemon Marmalade Jam is delicious, yet zesty and slightly tangy, great for a lovely morning breakfast spread on toast or muffins.
Lemon Marmalade
Making lemon marmalade is a two-day process. On the first you, you will prepare the lemons, placing them in a large bowl of water to soak overnight. This is a step that cannot be missed. Soaking the fruit overnight serves a couple of purposes. It helps with softening the peel as well as releasing the pectin that is required for the jam to set.
On day two, you cook the jam and bottle it up.
For this recipe, I didn’t add any herbs or spices, though if you want to, you could add cinnamon, cardamon, rosemary or vanilla while heating up the lemon, before adding the sugar. Just remember to remove any whole herbs or spices before adding the sugar.
After cooking your jam, remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside for around 10 minutes. This will help the fruit to settle and distribute evenly. If this is not done, the fruit will rise to the top of the marmalade.
Sterilisation
Before adding your jam to jars, you will need to sterilise them. To do this, wash the jars and lids in hot, soapy water. Rinse the jars in hot water and place upside down on racks in an oven heated to 120˚c. You can line the racks with baking paper first if you want. Heat the jars for 20 minutes. Do not place cold jam into hot jars or they may crack and break.
Preparing the Fruit
Wash and dry the fruit thoroughly. Cut off both the ends and discard. Make sure the fruit has unblemished skin.
Pectin or not?
Pectin is the ingredients that makes jellies and jams spoonable. When using citrus, pectin is mainly in the citrus peel – the white, part called the pith. Since you are using the whole lemons cut up in this recipe, there should be enough natural pectin for the marmalade to set properly.
It is best to use fresh, firm fruit for making marmalade, as old fruit will have lost its pectin and will not set. Fruit that is barely ripe and picked early in the season has the most pectin.
Other Jams and Spreads
- Homemade Bread
- Strawberry Jam
- Rosella Jam
- Mulberry Jam
- Slowcooker Apple Butter
- Apple Scrap Jelly
- Blueberry Jam
- Orange and Lemon Marmalade
- Passionfruit Curd
Ready or not?
It is very hard to tell if marmalade is ready as it thickens as it cools. Due to the natural pectin, it can take 24-48 hours to completely set. The cold plate method is great for this. Spoon about a teaspoon of mixture onto a saucer that has been in the freezer chilling. Let it cool and if the mixture wrinkles slightly when you touch it or run your finger through it, then the marmalade has reached setting point and is ready to bottle.
Using Marmalade
There are many ways to enjoy marmalade:
- Spread on bread, toast, English muffins or scones
- Spoon over ice cream
- Serve it with citrus cakes, cupcakes or muffins
- Brush a couple of tablespoons over chicken before roasting it
- Marmalade also goes well as a glaze for grilled pork chops.
More Lemon Recipes
- DIY Lemon Extract
- Orange and Lemon Marmalade
- Lemon Curd
- Lemon Coconut Slice
- Lemon Lime Cupcakes
- Lemon Cheesecake
- Lemon Cake
- Lemon Meringue Fudge
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Lemon Jelly Jam Recipe
Lemon Marmalade
Ingredients
- 6 large lemons
- 5 cups water
- 8 cups sugar
Instructions
- Wash the lemons thoroughly and dry.
- Slice them in half and then in very thin slices.
- Place in a ceramic bowl and cover with the water. Cover with cling wrap and allow to stand overnight on the bench.
- In the morning, uncover and tip the mixture into a large saucepan and boil until tender. If you want to add herbs or spices, add them now.
- Remove any whole herbs and spices if added. Add the sugar and boil quickly for 30 - 45 minutes or until it reaches the jam setting temperature or jellies when placed on a chilled saucer.
- Cool slightly for about 10 minutes, then bottle and seal. This will help the fruit to settle and evenly distribute when poured into the jars. Without settling, the fruit will rise to the top of the marmalade.
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