About this dish

• Serves: a lot!
• Time: 1 hour to prep the first day; 2 hours the second to cook and finish
• Method: stovetop

Our hummingbirds help make our key lime tree a constant source of fruit. This is a summary of the Food Network recipe to turn them into key lime marmalade. Marmalade is just jam made from citrus, so this is basically lime jam. I made this the first time during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2021.

Note: this is “refrigerator” jam as described below. It CAN be made shelf-stable with proper canning procedures, but those are NOT described here. The method here makes jam that should be refrigerated and can last several months if kept cold.

Ingredients

• key limes, about 1.5 pints, enough to fill a pint container when sliced thin
• white sugar (about 4-6 cups)
• water (about a cup)

Equipment

• Canning jars

Instructions

DAY 1:

• Wash clean key limes.
• Slice very thin, removing seeds and retaining juice – omit discolorations and stem area.
• Put in 1 pt Tupperware and add enough water to just cover limes.
• Let sit at room temp covered overnight.

DAY 2:

• Place mixture into wide pan with 2-3” sides.
• Bring to a boil gently, then reduce to simmer. Simmer COVERED for 40 minutes.
• Measure mixture volume and replace in pan.
• Measure white sugar to match that volume.
• Heat sugar (oven or microwave).
• Bring mixture to a boil and add sugar all once off the heat.
• Stir gently until sugar is dissolved on the heat but to NOT bring to boil until all the sugar is dissolved.
• At this point, DO NOT STIR.
• Bring mixture to a boil UNCOVERED for 10 minutes (careful – mixture may want to try to boil over).
• Test mixture on a frozen plate; if not gelling, cook another 3 minutes.
• Stop heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then place into jars

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