Lemon Jam Recipe

When life gives you lemons … make lemon jam! (Actually it is technically a marmalade as it is made with citrus including the peel).

I love all things lemon and, when I saw a recipe for a Lemon Eton Mess that used lemon curd and lemon jam, I knew I had to give it a go. Most of the recipes I could find for lemon jam seemed to use the whole rind but then boil it multiple times to get rid of the bitterness. It seemed simpler to peel off the zest and not use the white pith at all – so that is what I did and I think it is just right. It is deliciously tangy and not too sweet so it will be perfect to balance the sweetness of lemon curd and meringues.

8 largish lemons (1.3kg)
Approx 650g sugar

Peel the lemons using a potato peeler so that you get as little of the white pith as you can.

Blitz the lemon zest in a food processor until fine.

Peel the white pith off the lemons and discard the pith.

Cut lemons in half and remove the seeds (mine were very seedy this year).

Squeeze the lemons with your hand over a jug to remove some of the juice – just a firm squeeze will do, you don’t need to remove it all. (This is another chance to remove seeds you missed first time around). Keep the juice (I had approx 1.5 cups).

Blend the lemon flesh well in a food processor until it is smooth.

Weigh the lemon flesh and zest – and add an equal amount of sugar. This makes the recipe easy to scale up or down as you just adjust the sugar for how much lemon you have.

Put the lemon and sugar in a preserving pan or saucepan. Add in the reserved lemon juice (use a strainer to catch any more seeds).

Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour until the consistency changes and it darkens in colour.

Spoon a little on a cool saucer to make sure it will ‘gel’ – push it with your finger to test.

Ladle into hot sterilised jars and seal.