My sister has a very prolific Meyer lemon tree. It’s a miracle lemon tree. It was a teeny little thing that she planted in her backyard. When the tree was still a baby a big frost hit our area and we weren’t sure if the tree would survive. I remember going over and we pruned all the dead wood off it and we weren’t sure if there was enough tree left to ever produce fruit. Now it is huge and she tells me it is packed with lemons. So, naturally I asked her for some lemons.
I was thinking she’d fill a lunch bag. What arrived was a big box! There will be lots of lemon adventures around here for the next little while as we work our way though all those lemons.
First up was lemonade. I love the stuff. It went quite well with the pizza we had for lunch one day.
However, in order to make any inroads on that lemon box we needed more then a batch of lemon aid.
I decided to try my hand at marmalade. I have never actually eaten any lemon marmalade but I’ve heard it’s wonderful and loved even by orange marmalade haters.
The first step was to cut the lemons in half and slice them really thinly. I used our v-slicer since my husband makes it look so easy and managed to slice my finger too. What’s scary? That’s when I was using the finger guard. Without the guard I was fine and injury free.
After slicing, the lemons and juice are cooked briefly and allowed to sit overnight. The next day the marmalade was cooked and canned. Now we have some pretty jars sitting on the shelf.
We had some on warm Irish soda bread with our dinner and it was really good. My husband feels that the lemons should have been quartered rather than just halved. If you prefer smaller pieces of fruit you may wish to do that. It has a bright lemon flavor like lemon curd but without the richness since there is no butter or eggs. I think some scones are in our future.
This recipe calls for vanilla as well. Frankly, I don’t know that the vanilla brings a whole lot to the party. The lemon flavor is so strong that it really is what I notice when eating it. If you don’t have vanilla beans handy, I’ll bet you could skip it and still have really delicious marmalade to eat.
Meyer Lemon and Vanilla Bean Marmalade
makes about 4 1/2 cups
1 1/4 pounds Meyer lemons
5 cups water
5 1/2 cups (about) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 t salt
Working on large plate to catch juice, cut lemons in half lengthwise, then very thinly crosswise. Discard seeds. Pack enough lemons and any juice to measure 2 1/2 cups. Transfer to large nonreactive pot. Add 5 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand uncovered overnight.
Measure lemon mixture (there should be about 5 1/2 cups). Return to same pot. Add equal amount of sugar (about 5 1/2 cups). Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Add pinch of salt. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Attach clip-on candy thermometer. Maintaining active boil and adjusting heat to prevent boiling over, cook until temperature reaches 230°F, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Pour into jars. Cap and refrigerate marmalade or process in a water bath for 10 minutes for long term storage. Unprocessed marmalade will keep refrigerated for about 2 weeks.
printable version: lemon_marmalade.pdf
– marcella
Lucky, a box full of Meyer lemons? I’m seriously jealous. I pass all of these lemon and orange trees around my neighborhood and dream of sneaking some home.
I made a grapefruit marmalade last year that had vanilla bean in it. It didn’t quite set up as firm as I wanted but it tasted great. The vanilla bean added something though I’m not sure how well I can describe it. I’ve never made lemon marmalade though… and lemons tend to be stronger than grapefruit so maybe that’s why it overpowered the vanilla?
Hmmm… looks like some marmalade is in my near future.
Ooohhh….serious envy.
I remember the first time I saw a lemon tree. I was so stunned! I don’t know where I thought lemons grew…but to see a tree full of lemons was amazing.
This Canadian girl would love to have a lemon tree around!!
Patricia – Yes, I am too lucky to have all these lemons! It is hard to drive around and see the loaded trees just being neglected isn’t it? Perhaps I just have whimpy taste buds and don’t notice the vanilla flavor? The grapefruit sounds good though, I really love grapefruit too.
Kathy – Let me know if you make any marmalade and it you taste the vanilla!
Dawn – The trees are really beautiful. I had a nice one growing in a pot until the deer ate it. Sigh. I’ve heard the trees can be grown indoors, I wonder if that would really work? Maybe you can have lemons.
Marmalade is now done.
First off, it actually set — yee haw! The last couple of times I’ve tried, it hasn’t set. The difference with this recipe is the overnight sitting.
I can’t say I taste the vanilla. Perhaps if I had a side-by-side taste test I might taste the difference. But it is good.
BTW, this made 9 cups for me, not 4.5. Perhaps you meant 4+ pints?
And Eric wasn’t fooled one bit by the bag, but he did appreciate the effort.
Wow, you are fast! I can’t believe you made marmalade all ready. Congratulations on getting it to set too! I think cooking to 230 is the magic temperature for jelling. I’m glad to know it’s not just me who can’t really taste the vanilla. The recipe made just over 4 1/2 C of jam for me just like the recipe said. I wonder what the difference was? That’s quite an amount difference. Well, Eric is just too clever for us. We’ll have to think of something better next time.
Just stoppin’ by from GP’s Recipe Roundup and I’m very jealous of this lemon tree. I dont’ think they can grown in Indiana, but I wish they could. I wanted to invite you to our Canning Week Blog Party (Aug. 22-26). http://alattewithotta.blogspot.com/p/canning-week-2011.html There will be a canning linky party with a guest judge, and canning related give-a-ways. It should be a lot of fun and I hope you will stop by and link up!!!
This looks heavenly…thanks so much for sharing in this week’s Recipe Round-Up. We’ll echo Amy’s sentiment above about the lemon tree. If ONLY we could grow one in Ohio!
[...] used the recipe I’d made before with great results. However, I cannot resist a little bit of tinkering. [...]