Ingredients
- 1 kg of Lemons (any you can glean from a backyard tree but Meyer is traditionally the variety used)
- 75ml lemon juice or homemade pectin
- About a 1kg white sugar or mix 50/50 brown or raw / white
- 1 vanilla bean
Method
- Scrub the fruit then cut in half and juice. Set juice to one side for later.
- Using a sharp knife cut the peel into slices according to your preference, thin, medium or chunky.
- Put the peel, juice, two litres of water and the vanilla bean into a large bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to soak overnight or for 24 hrs.
- Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean then transfer the whole mixture, including bean and seeds, to a preserving pan and bring to the boil then simmer slowly until the pieces are tender, about 1 hour. The contents of the pot will have reduced by about a third to a half.
- Cool slightly and measure the liquid in the pot (in cups, litres or by weight). Add an equal quantity of sugar*, stir in the lemon juice / pectin and bring slowly to the boil stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Boil rapidly until the setting point is reached, about 20-25 mins. Test for the setting point with a teaspoon or cold plate.
- Remove from the heat and let sit for 8-10 mins. This allows the fruit to disperse evenly through the marmalade and will stop the fruit rising to the top of your jar.
- Pour into sterilised jars and seal immediately.
*The volume and weight of the sugar and the prepared peel & liquid are equal. i.e. 1 litre of liquid (4 metric cups) is equivalent to 4 metric cups of sugar