Lime Jelly Marmalade

OH is busy in the kitchen cooking himself a full English - I am content just to have a bacon butty so whilst he is pottering in there I thought I would take the opportunity of sharing the recipe I am going to start when he has finished in there.  I also have other cooking to do so I may be gone for a little while.

Ever keen to make the most of my bargain limes, (I have 2kg for £2) I have been mosying through my books and have found this recipe which I haven't made before.  As OH is not particularly keen on peel or rind in his food and I love any kind of jelly anyway I thought I would give this one a try.  The recipe is from Jams and Chutneys by Thane Prince ISBN 978-1-4053-2954-5.  This is a very useful little preserving book if you can lay your hands on it.  This should produce approximately 3lb of jelly, but the process is split into two i.e. the preparation and then then you leave to drip overnight in a jelly bag and then finish up making the preserve the next day.  A nice simple little recipe. 

Ingredients:

1lb 10oz /750g ripe limes
2 1/4 lb/1 kg white granulated sugar
About 4 to 5 prepared sterilised jars and lids

Method

To get maximum amount of juice out of lemons and limes I pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds or alternatively roll the lemon or lime backwards and forwards on the counter top.  When you come to squeezing the fruit this releases far more juice and that is what we are after when making any kind of preserve where you want maximum flavour.  I also use a wooden hand reamer to express the juice.

Cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice.  Put aside the lime shells and the juice in separate containers.

Dealing first with the shells place these in a food processor (or you can chop finely by hand) and put in a preserving pan with 1 3/4 pints of water/1 litre of water.  Bring to the biol and simmer for about 20 minutes until soft.  Spoon the mixture combined with the reserved juice into a jelly bag and allow to drip overnight.  Do not be tempted to squeeze or pressurise the contents through the bag as this will lead to cloudiness in the jelly which will spoil the appearance of it.

The next day when you come to make your preserve:

Pour the drained juice from your jelly bag into a clean preserving pan and add the sugar.  Warm over a low heat stirring until the sugar has dissolved.  Only then increase the heat and cook at a full rolling boil for about a minute. If a thick foamy scum starts to form on the marmalade add a knob of butter which will help disperse this.  Alternatively skim off as much as you can as it can spoil the appearance of the preserve, using the butter got rid of most of mine.  Then start testing for a set (ie place a saucer in the fridge so it gets really cold then drop a spot of the mixture onto the cold saucer put in the fridge again (and then take out about a minute later inspect the saucer and if the mixture is runny it is not ready but if a surface skin has started to form on the liquid and you push it with your finger and it wrinkles the preserve is ready for potting).  I always take my preserve off the heat whilst I am testing for a set as the mixture can go over extremely quickly.  When setting point is achieved pot into hot sterilised jars, seal and label.

This is just the juice from the lemons

This is the water and the chopped peel which is then boiled until the peel is tender.  As a general note when marmalade making it is important not to add the sugar to marmalades containing peel until the peel is very tender.   To do so makes the peel go very hard.

I haven't shown any pictures of the marmalade left to drip overnight or of boiling in the pan (this will take longer than the 1 minute stipulated in the recipe) below are some photos trying to show you how to test for a set - when some of the jam is placed on a cold chilled plate and then popped back into the fridge again and then taken out after a couple of minutes chilling if you push the surface of the jam with your index finger it should wrinkle on the surface if the set has been achieved - if not you will have to keep on boiling and testing.  I used a jam thermometer to make sure that the jam had reached temperature this is useful when a set has not been achieved but you know you are not far off achieving it

I have managed to get 6 recycled coffee jars full of the lime jelly marmalade.  It tastes tangy too and has come up nice and clear and not cloudy.  The first of the preserves for this New Year.  Should be scrummy on toast.

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Pattypan

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