My blogging bestie Miranda from Spooky Little Halloween asked me a few days ago if lemon marmalade was a thing. I’ve always combined fruit and juice in my marmalade, never considering a more concentrated marmalade. So I poked around Pinterest and discovered it’s totally a thing, and preserving the entire citrus fruit (including peel, pith, pulp, and seeds) is very common outside the United States. Also, preserving with sugar softens the bitter taste of the peel and pith. Makes sense to me! So Miranda came over for some lemony test kitchening yesterday and we rocked a new recipe! We used *almost* the whole lemon, only cutting off the ends and removing a few seeds. If you haven’t preserved fruit much, I highly recommend my Mathematical Formula for Jam/Jelly/Marmalade post because I included some dos, don’ts, and wonder ifs, as well as a gear list to get you started. Here’s my/our updated marmalade recipe, which can be used for lemon, orange, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits:
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Citrus Marmalade
5 cups chopped citrus
~2 cups water (just fill up to the 5 cup line in the blender)
1 tablespoon stick butter
1 box powdered pectin
7 cups of sugar (don’t freak out, it’s not that big a deal)
Fill blender to the 5 cup line with fruit (chopped or quartered), smashed to consolidate. Fill water to the 5 cup line. Add butter and pectin. Blend. Pour into stockpot and heat on high to boiling. At the first boiling point, add sugar and stir until all sugar is dissolved. Continue to stir until mixture reaches a rolling boil. Let mixture boil for 90 seconds (this is critical). Remove from heat and ladle into sanitized jars. Seal. Boil sealed jars in water bath for 10 minutes. Set out on counter to cool for 24 hours.
Yields: 9 cups (9 half pint jars or 4.5 pint jars)
In our afternoon of canning, we also discovered sparkling wine tastes great with lemon peel, and extra lemon juice is destined for sidecars.
[Check out Champagne Jell-O Shots: Sidecar Cocktail here]
I hope you enjoy this marmalade recipe. And head over to Spooky Little Halloween’s blog to celebrate October 31st all year long!
More canning and preserving on Red Shoes. Red Wine.
A Mathematical Formula for Jam/Jelly/Marmalade
Pepper Jelly and Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Butter, Oh My!
Not All Salsas are Created Equal
The Only Cranberry Sauce You’ll Ever Need
I’m about to try making citrus marmalade using Meyer lemons I was recently gifted. BUT my favorite marmalade recipe includes strawberries, oranges and lemons. Would I use the same ratio of fruit?
I think if the strawberry etc proportions are low and it’s mostly citrus, the ratio could be the same. Sounds like fun experimenting anyway!