Noted

Since my neighbors have several hundred pounds of surplus citrus, I’m trying to develop some marmalade recipes that even non-marmalade-lovers will enjoy. I’d love to create a ginger lemon marmalade that tastes like the lemon echinacea juice from Trader Joe’s and is, as far as I am concerned, the nectar of the gods.

I wanted to sweeten this marmalade just with honey but realized too late that I only had 2.5 cups of honey, not 4 cups. Doh! I substituted 2 cups of cane sugar for the missing 1.5 cups of honey.

Recipe

12 lemons
5 inch by 1 inch piece of fresh ginger root
2.5 cups honey
2 cups granulated cane sugar
7.5 cups of water
cheese cloth

Slice the ends off the lemons. Then slice them length-wise in half. Cut the pith in the lemon’s inner core reserving the pith, the lemon ends and the seeds. Slice the cored lemons into 1/8th inch slices. Cover slices with seven cups of water and soak them overnight in a non-reactive pot at room temperature. (For a great pictorial on how to cut slice and core the lemons go here to Bay Area Bites.

Peel the ginger root and slice into thin pieces. Puree the ginger slices with the remaining half cup of water in a food processor. Push the resulting ginger mash through the sieve with your fingers to squeeze all the liquid out. Reserve the ginger water.

Once the lemons slices have soaked over night, add the honey, the sugar, and the ginger water to the pot.

Tie the pith, the lemon ends, and the seeds in cheese cloth and add to the pot. These ingredients contain pectin which will allow your marmalade to jell properly.

Bring the marmalade ingredients to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for one hour or until the marmalade jells. (Watch the marmalade for the last 20 minutes, because the marmalade is really easy to overcook)!

Ladle the hot marmalade into hot, sterilized jars. Process jars in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Allow jars to rest overnight to ensure a proper seal.

This recipe is super easy to make, and yummy. However, I’d like to try this again with just honey, instead of a blend of honey and sugar. Also, I think this needs one more flavor in the mix to really make it sing. I’m thinking either cloves or rosemary.

While sweet and lemony, the marmalade still has that bitter edge that die hard marmalade fans crave. If you want a less bitter marmalade, leave out the seeds and just use the pith. (The seeds contain more pectin, so your marmalade will be a little runnier if you leave those out of the cooking process).

This recipe makes exactly twelve 4 ounce jars of marmalade.