Lemon & Lime Marmalade

Lemon & Lime Marmalade

Back view of jar showing the zest suspending in the preserve

I couldn't wait to get out my jam jars, preserving equipment for this wonderful ‘Putting Up’ Event. I had some lemon and limes, which I thought would make an excellent combination for marmalade. I have a fondness for using preserves in my baking but nothing beats a warm toasted slice of bread with lashings of marmalade in my opinion! This marmalade isn’t as sweet as some and gives a wonderful sharp edge to it and both citrus flavours shine through remarkably to give a clean taste to your palette. Note you need to start this recipe the night before.

I will try and guide you through the stages of this preserve to the best of my knowledge that I have learnt from making my own preserves. Of course I don’t proclaim to know everything and remain to learn all the time, so please feel free to leave any feedback. I am always willing to learn new procedures or valuable tips!

The setting point is one that can be hard to grasp at first, as I found to my cost when I first started making preserves. I have tried to explain to the best of my ability what to look for in a setting point.

I managed to yield three 450g (1lb) jars and ¾ filled a fourth 450g (1lb) jar from this recipe.

Lemon & Lime Marmalade
225g (8 oz) lemons
225g (8 oz) limes
15 litters (2½ pints) cold water
1.125kg (2½ lb) caster sugar
You will also need 4 x 450g (1lb) jam jars with lids or covers

Method

Wash your preserving pan or heavy based large pan in hot soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly on a clean tea towel.

Taking the lemons and limes, wash in hot water to remove any wax if they are not organic and to ensure the skins are fully clean. Dry thoroughly on a clean tea towel. Cut the fruit in half squeezing out all the juice and placing in a jug covered over in the fridge for the next day. Any pips and pulp scoop out and place into a muslin in the middle, tie tightly with string around the top to encase all the pips and pulp leaving a little extra string to tie to the handle if possible onto the preserving pan. Place the muslin bag of pips and pulp into the preserving pan with the water. Slice the zest and pith into thin strips and place this in the preserving pan. Cover over with foil or a lid and leave to soak overnight.

Showing preserving equipment I use minus jam jars, lids and labels

Next day, wash all the jam jars and equipment in hot soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly on a clean tea towel. Heat the oven on a low heat and place the jars on a baking tray and place in the oven to sterilise. Sterilise all lids or if using a kilnar jar the rubber seal in boiling water in a bowl or pan, do not place these in the oven.

Place two side plates in the freezer for the setting point if not using a sugar thermometer.

You can at this stage also warm the sugar through in the low oven on a large baking tray; this will help dissolve the sugar quicker when added to the preserving pan.

Place the preserving pan on a low heat on the stove and let it simmer until the zest is soft enough. You will need to keep the pan covered either by a lid or foil to ensure that you don’t lose fluid, (it can take an hour or more for the zest to soften). You can test to see if the zest is soft enough by carefully taking a strip out and squeezing through your finger and thumb, it should give easily and break into two. Remove the muslin bag of pips and pulp and squeeze out any fluids, being careful as this will be hot then discard the muslin bag and contents.

The zest soft after a simmer

If using a sugar thermometer clip this onto the side of your pan making sure the base is in the liquid. Now add all the sugar and lemon and lime juice in the jug, keeping the heat low and stirring with a large handled wooden spoon until all the sugar has dissolved. You can test this also by looking at the back of a wooden spoon to see if there are any signs of sugar crystals clinging to it. The sugar MUST BE fully dissolved before going on to the next stage.

A rolling rapid boil

Increase the heat and bring to a rolling rapid boil and boil until setting point is reached, making sure you remain to keep stirring to prevent the contents burning. This will be very hot at this stage so this is why I recommend a long handle wooden spoon to help prevent any splashes onto the skin. Setting point can be reached at any point from 5 – 20 minutes or even longer in some cases. Signs to look for in a set point would be, the fruit will not rise as vigorously and it makes less noise when bubbling and large bubbles appear on the surface. Always remove the preserving pan off the heat when testing for setting point. The sugar thermometer will read on the jam setting when ready or take a plate out of the freezer and place a teaspoon of the preserve on it. Leave this to cool and with your finger push through the middle, you will notice a wrinkle to the skin of the preserve and clearly a line through the centre where your finger has been. If the set is not reached place back on the heat and boil rapidly once again for 5 minutes, take off the heat and try again as above to see if setting point is reached.

Testing for setting point with a sugar thermometer

Testing for setting point with a plate

You can also judge before taking off the heat to test for a set by coating the back of a wooden spoon, and you will notice drops of jelly forming on the bottom of the spoon.

Showing jelly droplets on the back of a wooden spoon

When the correct set is achieved leave the preserve to cool a little giving a stir from time to time. You will notice the zest starting to suspend in the jelly of the preserve. If you pot up to early the zest will not suspend equally throughout the preserve.

It’s now time for potting up the preserve. Bring out the warm jars from the oven and place on a heat proof surface. Using a ladle or large spoon and jam funnel if you have one, fill the jars up to the brim, trying not to leave any gaps between the lid and the jar. This helps elevate any bacteria forming between the lid and jar in storage. With a clean cloth wipe off any stickiness around the outside lip of the jar and seal down with the lids.

Potting up my preserves

Leave the preserve to cool then wipe the outside of each jar to remove any spilt preserve and dry with a clean cloth. Place on the labels and it’s helpful to include the date the preserve was made. You can jazz your jars up with circles of cut fabric or thick wrapping paper tied with a thin ribbon. These make great gifts for family and or friends.