Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Still working on using up my citrus. Today's recipe is for Meyer Lemon Marmalade. I'm not a fan of marmalade, but this one is surprisingly light and sunshiny tasting. I used Meyer lemons, but you could use any sweet lemon in the recipe. It may work OK with regular lemons as long as you increase the sugar a bit. I've not tried that. This recipe is pretty easy; you know I prefer simpler recipes. The only tricky part is pouring the lemons into the strainer. This is why I made a very small batch, so the amount I had to lift and pour was less. I used a strainer set over a pan in the sink so as to not get hot water on me. Worked good. I made two batches of the jam. Craig really liked it. I've included a variation for cardamon lemon marmalade below too. I adapted a recipe by David Lebovitz.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

about 6 Meyer lemons - a generous 2 cups sliced
3/4 cup sugar per cup of sliced lemon - 1 1/2 cups sugar per 2 cups sliced
2 cups water (a 1 to one ratio, so 2 cups lemons equals 2 cups water and so on), plus more for blanching
pinch of sea salt
optional: 1 teaspoons kirsch, bay leaves, 5 crushed cardamon pods

Rinse and dry the lemons, trim off the stem ends, then cut each in half and remove the seeds. Tie the seeds up in some cheese cloth and set aside. I'll use these to help add pectin to the jam.

Slice them as thinly as possible. Put in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes, then drain well.

Return the lemons to the pot, add the sugar, water, sack of seeds, cardamon (also wrapped in cheese cloth), if using, and salt, and bring to a boil. Cook about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Don't over stir or it will turn muddy looking. Turn the marmalade off and put a dab on a plate that’s been in the freezer then check it after a couple minutes; if it wrinkles when you push your finger through it, it’s done. If not, continue to cook in 5 minute increments, checking until it reaches the desired consistency.

Remove the cheese cloth sacks of pits and cardamon. Add the Kirsch, place bay leaf in jar, if using, and add the marmalade. I don't seal my jams so after it cools, keep in refrigerator for about a month or in the freezer for at least a year.