Hello world! I’ve been super busy these past few months, but I’m really thrilled that it’s finally farmers’ market season here in the mid-atlantic. I will be flexing my canning and preserving muscles in the coming months in oreder to try to hang onto some of this wonderful summer flavor well into the winter. Strawberries are still coming into the markets right now, so I’ve been making jam and preserves. I thought I’d try something a little different with one of the batches I was working on so I modified a recipe out of the Ball Blue Book and created a gorgeous strawberry lime marmalade.
Now, I was a little hesitant to call this a marmalade because–for me at least–the word “marmalade” conjures up memories of a bitter orange jam. But the step of boiling the peel before you make the jam draws out all the bitter flavors and you are left with just a pleasant lime taste. Technically, anything with citrus peel in it is considered marmalade. So I went with it.
There are a couple of ways to get the peel you need. The easiest way is to use a vegetable peeler to peel thin slices of the rind and then chop that. But I was very concerned about bitter flavors and wanted to make sure I just got the zest, so I used a zester instead. (There is a picture with my Lime Icebox Cookies post of the tool I used if you are not sure what I’m talking about.) I needed to zest about 3 limes to get the amount that I needed.
If you are new to canning, I highly recommend the book Putting Food By as an excellent primer on all methods of food preservation.
Strawberry Lime Marmalade
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced lime peel
- Two generous quarts strawberries, washed and hulled, any bad spots trimmed
- 1 package powdered pectin
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 6 cups sugar
Special Equipment
- 7-8 half-pint jars with lids and rings, sterilized
- Jar lifter
- Jar funnel
- Lid lifter
- Boiling water canner
Method
Cover lime peel with water and boil 5 minutes. Drain and discard the liquid (trust me, it is too bitter to use for anything).
Meanwhile, place the strawberries in a very large pot (I use an 8 quart pot) and crush with a potato masher until there are no whole pieces and lots of juice has come out; it should measure about 4 cups. Add the drained lime peel, lime juice, and powdered pectin and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim the foam. Ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust lids and rings. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Leave on the counter untouched for 24 hours before checking seals. Remove rings and label the jam. Store in a cool place. Any jars that did not seal can be stored in the refrigerator.
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