Lemon Marmalade

Recently, my friend came back from his holiday in Spain where he rented a house there for 3 months during the winter month. There are orange tree, lemon tree and also an avocado tree, and the trees are full with fruits. So, just before he left his rented Air B&B, I told him to get me some beautiful, homegrown lemons from the garden, in which to my surprise he brought back a big bag of lemons. I have been baking all sorts of cakes & desserts using the lemons. I still need to find how I can use up most of the lemons before they get rotten.

I spend a bit of time trawling online sites before deciding that the best thing would be to have a go at making some lemon marmalade. If you think that making a marmalade is difficult, I want to assure you that it is easier than you may think. So, here its the recipes.

Ingredients:

• 500g unwaxed lemons
• 6 cups water
• 1.5kg sugar

Method:

Place a saucer or a small plate in the freezer, ready to check for the setting point of your marmalade.

Thoroughly wash the lemons. Remove each end of the lemons. Remove each end of the lemons and cut the lemons into quarters lengthways. Holding two of the quarters together, slice as thinly as possible and remove any seeds.

Place the lemon slices into a non-reactive bowl. Add the 6 cups of water, cover the bowl and leave the lemons to stand overnight.

The following day, place the lemons and water into a jam pan. Over medium-high heat, bring the fruit and water to boil. Boil for about 15 minutes or until the lemon peel is tender, stirring occasionally with a long-handled wooden spoon. The time may vary slightly depending on the variety of lemon and the thickness of the slices.

Add the sugar and stir well to dissolve it. After dissolving the sugar, return the fruit to the boil, stir occasionally and skim to remove any foam. Continue to stir until the marmalade reaches setting point, about 25 minutes.

Remove from the heat to conduct the wrinkle test. If not set, continue to boil for another 2-3 minutes and then test again. The "wrinkle test" is by putting a small amount of the marmalade onto the saucer that you taken out from the freezer. Let it cool for a minute then push against the marmalade with the tip of your finger. If the surface wrinkles it means setting point has been reached. 

Take the mixture off the heat and let the marmalade stand for about 10 minutes. This will help evenly distribute the fruit throughout the jars.

Ladle the marmalade into sterilized jars. It's ready to give as gift to family and friends.