Meyer Lemon Marmalade & Homemade English Muffins

meyer lemon marmalade on homemade English muffins

Food trends are almost as fast and fleeting as fashion trends. Certain ingredients, cuisines and cooking styles reach a fever pitch of nowness, then fade away into culinary history. From sun-dried tomatoes to fusion dining to food trucks; these trends can be as evocative of an era as mini backpacks or shoulder pads.

meyer lemons

citrus seeds in cheesecloth

Meyer Lemons strike me as a very trendy ingredient. One sees it in every incarnation on just about every menu, anywhere you go. So its with some reservation I opted to make meyer lemon marmalade for another rendition of winter citrus tart.
Ordinarily I make a blood orange marmalade for the tart but meyer lemon marmalade is a bit more bitter and so better suited to the almond cream and puff pastry.

slivered lemons soaking overnight, but why?

Every recipe for meyer lemon marmalade insisted on soaking the lemon peels overnight with their seeds, though not a single recipe bothered to explain why. I have a particular pet peeve with recipes that are arbitrarily complicated or time-consuming without logical explanation. 
If anyone can provide insight on this, I would be much obliged!
The water and fruit must cook down by a fifth its volume before adding the sugar. In other words, begin with 5 quarts of water to 1.5 pounds of chopped fruit and boil until the water + fruit = 1 quart. Then add sugar depending on your sweetness preference. I added 3 and 3/4 cups.

the canning set-up

The sugar/fruit/water combo is not marmalade until the temperature reaches 225 degrees. This takes longer than you'd expect, every time! 

elevated water bath rack

setting the marmalade

In order to properly set the marmalade, an elevated water bath is needed and the best rack for this is a combination of the ball jar tops.

cornmeal dusted English muffins

English muffins cooked on the skillet

a perfect breakfast, anytime!

The best application for the marmalade, besides the winter citrus tart of course, is homemade English muffins!