I had forgotten about this recipe for Meyer Lemon Marmalade and made a batch earlier this week – delicious, despite the dark color. Our tree is so loaded with fruit and now the little one in the back yard is bearing fruit as well – so, an older post from 2013 is once again timely as I race to prepare for my second hand surgery in ten days…The 1/2 cup of zest and 2 cups of juice worked perfectly, so use as many Meyers as you need to get these measurements.
I think, by now, my readers know all about my ongoing love affair with Meyer lemons. This morning I woke up stiff and sore from having planted a second tree over the weekend. Our new “baby” is smack dab in the middle of the back yard, safe from the lemon thieves that routinely strip ripe fruit from our tree in the front garden.
It will be a year before we can harvest fruit from the new tree, since allowing lemons to mature on a freshly planted tree robs it of energy needed to develop a strong root system. As much as I hated to do it, I picked three good-sized green lemons, pinched off a few blossoms and tossed them.
To celebrate the new tree, I decided to gather as many ripe lemons from our “senior” tree and make a batch of my Meyer lemon marmalade. I have been working on my recipe for a couple of years, adapted from a marmalade recipe in “The New Basics”, a favorite cookbook of mine. I used Anna Pump’s (via Ina Garten) tip to reheat the jam after it has sat for several hours. This insures a nice, thick consistency, almost syrup-y.
I’m not crazy about the color of this marmalade, but love its tart, lemon-y deliciousness. Try it on toast with cream cheese or swirled into cake and muffin batter. Drizzle some over ice cream or fruit sorbet. Sometimes I use it as a glaze over pork tenderloin or serve it as a condiment with roast chicken.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: You will need a candy thermometer.
TIP: If you can’t find Meyer lemons, which are sweeter than other lemons, and want to substitute conventional lemons, I suggest you increase the amount of sugar by one additional cup. You may need 2-3 more lemons, since Meyers are exceptionally juicy.
- 8-10 ripe Meyer lemons
- 4 cups white sugar
- ½ cup chopped crystallized ginger
- Zest the lemons using a small-holed zester. You will have about ½ cup of little ribbons of zest.
- Juice the zested lemons and strain the juice to remove any seeds. 8 large lemons yielded 2 cups of juice.
- Combine the zest, juice, sugar and ginger in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, such as a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 hour.
- Pour the marmalade into a non-reactive container, cover and allow to "rest" for 4-6 hours - or even overnight - on the kitchen counter. (Do not refrigerate.)
- After the jam has rested, pour it back into to its cooking pot and reheat. Using a candy thermometer, cook it until it reaches 220 degrees.
- Fill sterile jars with marmalade, according to safe canning procedures. (For a review of canning how-to, go to www.freshpreserving.com)
Liz, we must be on the same wave length! I just canned the first kumquats from my baby tree with Meyer lemon zest.It’s my first canning of the summer season
LOL – just saw your kumquats! They are gorgeous…
Actually, the first thing I was going to comment on was the gorgeous color! Another Liz the Chef star jam recipe. 🙂
I guess I always dream of a yellow lemon marmalade, Stephanie…
I agree with Stephanie – I love the gorgeous color! Who would have thought lemon marmalade would turn orange? I love it!
OK, thanks for boosting my cooking ego 😉
I love the gorgeous color of this, I’m assuming you wanted a more yellow color, but you know what? This is beautiful.
I love the idea of meyer lemon marmalade and when I made my blood orange marmalade I seriously considered the meyer lemon as an option. Now I know I’m going to do it.
Great recipe!
Thank you SO much…I keep thinking folks will expect a nice yellow.
What a lovely sounding idea, bet its delicious! If we get Meyer lemons here again I will try this for sure.
I remember when you found them before, Jayne –
Gorgeous photo Liz! Love the idea of letting the jam rest, I use this technique with my Apple Jelly that I use to add to my jams that need addtional pectin to set. Recipe looks glorious and excited that you will have a new tree in your yard! My Meyer Lemon Tree is in my backyard, at this time I am looking at lots of little green babies–can’t wait for December 🙂
You are the expert, Wendy, so I value your comment re your apple jelly. I’m going to treat myself to some of your gorgeous jams this summer.
Awwww….you and your awesome Meyer Lemons again, I SO wish I was your neighbor.
I should try to ship you some…
Pinch away. I can affirm that is the path to success. Also less water than you might think, especially the second year. This will encourage deep roots. GREG
Great advice – thanks, Greg –
I love the story behind your new lemon tree – and had to laugh at your “fruit thieves.” We have neighbors who have gorgeous lemons in their front yard and they just let them fall to the ground. I’m always tempted but have never asked if they want to give their lemons away. Your recipe might just give me the courage to ask them!
Please ask – I have many neighbors who I want to help themselves – they are “thieves” – LOL. It gets sort of silly…
I must have exceptionally large Meyer lemons because i get at least a 1/2 cup of juice from each of my Meyer lemons. i guess i will half the amount of lemons and use the measurements given in the recipe.
I have only made one pie from my lemons but have given most them away for Christmas presents. Everyone was thrilled with them.
Since this post first appeared I have added a satsuma to my collection! GREG
Me too, just this year, but I forgot your tip to pinch off the blossoms the first season and we have tiny fruit 🙁
This looks delicious! I wish I had a tree of my own, but I definitely won’t mind running to the store to get the lemons for this!
Sometimes I buy them as well, when we don’t have any on our trees – and I has a generous neighbor, so we trade our oranges for her Meyers.