For Sophie Gray’s best lime tips and tricks, go to In season with Food magazine: limes.
Ingredients
Method
1.Place whole limes in a medium saucepan with the water, cover with a lid and simmer 40-50 minutes until the limes are very soft but still whole.
2.When cool enough to handle, remove limes and pour cooking water in a large saucepan. Place a sieve over the top and halve the limes over it, so any juices go into the liquid and the pulp and seeds are caught by the sieve. Use a teaspoon to scrape the pithy insides from the lime skins, and add to the sieve. Check the sieve and discard any pips, then tip the pulp into the liquid.
3.Finely slice the skins, then add to the liquid along with the sugar. Heat gently until boiling; keep at a rolling boil for about 20 minutes, then test for a set by dripping some onto a chilled plate and seeing if it wrinkles when pushed. Check the mixture at 5-minute intervals until at setting consistency.
4.Strain the marmalade into a heatproof jug, quickly pressing out all the liquids and reserving the solids; you should have about 750ml of clearish thick marmalade. Stir in a little green colouring, if using, extra lime zest, and as much of the reserved sliced rind as you want for taste and texture. Then quickly, while still hot, decant into sterilised jars and top with sterilised lids.
• The intense tartness of limes means the usual marmalade ratios of equal quantities of sugar, water and fruit do not apply. More sugar is required, as otherwise the resulting marmalade will be unpleasantly bitter. • It is not essential to strain the marmalade, but we prefer it with less rind and more clear jelly.
Note
