My Wicked Step Mothers Lime Marmalade

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Mans

Roundabout now, when your limes are liming, your oranges are oranging, and your lemons are lemoning, it’s MARAMALADE TIME. This is how my ‘Wicked Step Mother’ taught me to do it. You can use any citrus fruit, just remember to get rid of any pips.   Oh! She is not really so wicked.

               Ailsa, My Wicked Step Mother                        Mans

Wot you need

Limes

Sugar

Water

Oil (neutral flavour. eg sunflower oil)

Jars 

How to do it

Wash your limes, then chop them to the size and texture you want, you can use a food processor. Just cover the chopped fruit with water, (you can leave it overnight, some say it releases more pectin). Gently simmer the mixture. While it is slowly bubbling away, pour an equal amount of sugar as the simmering fruit mix into a baking tray and pop it into a 100°c oven, so the sugar can heat through (this sneaky trick will keep your marmalade clear). When you can easily squish the fruit rinds between your fingers, you can take the mixture off the heat. Now add the warm sugar to the mixture and stir until dissolved. This is a good time to sterilise the jars by popping them into the oven, which is still on. Once the sugar has all dissolved return the pot to the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally. Don’t worry to skim the scum, coz you can deal with it later, but do worry about putting a plate in the freezer, for the ‘coldplatewrinkeltest’. After about 12 mins of gentle bubbling you can try it, you may have to repeat the test a few times. You do this by dropping a blob the marmalade onto the cold plate, leave it for a minute or two, then push it with your finger, if your marmalade wrinkles, it will set. This means it’s time to take it off the heat, and now deal with the scum. When the mixture stops bubbling, pour a splash of any cooking oil into the pot and stir until the scum miraculously disappears. Finally, using a ladle or small jug pour the marmalade into the warm jars. The most challenging part is to see if you can wait long enough for it to cool, before you chomp it on hot buttered toast.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Mans