Lemonade Fruit

Barb starts with ...
what can i use the fruit off the lemonade tree for, can it be used in place of lemons in recipes or is it different

Pauline says...
Yes, I agree, it is not a lemon replacement. It is a very nice fruit for eating straight off the tree though. Yum

Anne A\'Herran says...
Lemonade Marmalade

I make a good lemonade marmalade but it needs a lot of pectin to set as it is not as acidic as other citrus. So I use the seeds of the fruit, and any other seeds of citrus I have saved up (and frozen).
The recipe which I use is based on one for Fine Lime Shred Marmalade, in a book (yes, a book!) I have, called The Complete Book of Preserves and Pickles, Jams, Jellies, Chutneys and relishes, by Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mayhew, published by Arness Publishing 2003. The final recipe I use uses seeds, juice, pulp and skin. Like you I won't waste anything.
NOTE: My lemonades don’t have any pith (the white spongy layer between pulp and skin) to speak of: I don’t think that would necessarily be nice in a marmalade so if your fruit are pithy, look for another recipe which cuts the pith off and casts it aside.)

You could alternatively look on the web until you find a few recipes, read and absorb them all, and plan your own ‘amalgam’ recipe.

Here is mine: it differs from the book but it does work and doesn’t waste.
Ingredients:
I use the traditional ratio of weights (1 lb of fruit to 1 lb of sugar).
My actual quantities were:
2.4 Kg lemonade fruit
2.4 kg warmed sugar
2.5 pints of fluid. I used all the lemonade juice that I extracted in Step 1, plus 1 cup of lemon/bush lemon juice (it is very tart) as part of the 2.5 pints, and made up the full amount with water. I tried to maximise use of the fruit juices, hoping for maximum pectin that way.
A dozen kaffir lime leaves (optional - we have a tree)

Method:
1. Halve and Juice the lemonades.

2. As you do so, gather everything:
a. the seeds and put in a muslin bag (if you have no muslin use a clean Chux) with as many other citrus seeds you may have saved and frozen, and the kaffir lime leaves.
b. Also gather the pulp as you juice, and put in a large bowl. Check the pulp is not in too big blobs – you may need to chop it roughly.
c. Pour the juice into a measuring jug as you go. Add the lemon juice, and last, add water to make the total quantity of fluid. Don’t over add.

3. Slice the skins as thick or thin as you want them to appear in the marmalade – I like the skins very finely sliced as they soften better, but more because they give a gorgeous look to the finished product, especially if the skins are still green, which they often are (green lemonades are still sweet: once mine are yellow they get stung by the sucking moth or fruit fly so I pick them before that happens). The fine cut skins coil and swirl amongst the yellow jam, which looks absolutely beautiful.

4. Put the sliced skins and the pulp in a large preserving pan (thick bottomed)

5. Pour over the ‘juices and water’ mix: stir well.

6. Hang the seeds and lime leaves in their bag over the side, into the mix, (so you can easily remove them later).

7. Cover and simmer for an hour or longer – enough to soften the skins, if they need it, but mainly to extract as much pectin as possible.

9. After every 30 minutes test the amount of pectin thus: spoon a teaspoon of the fluid in the pan into a small glass which has a few teaspoons of methylated spirits. The juice will, with a slight stirring, if the pectin is sufficiently extracted to gel the jam, make a discernible ball, in a few moments. Until it does ball, the pectin is not there, and you need to cook it longer, and/or add more lemon juice. (Or you could add commercial pectin: read its label if so as to how much and when.)

10. While the marmalade is cooking, gently warm the sugar.

11. Test for pectin repeatedly. Toss out the meths and juice mix each time! Once the fluid passes the pectin test, remove the bag of seeds. Squeeze it gently between two spoons (it’ll be hot) to remove any pectin in it.

12. Check your jars are ready: see Note at end.

13. Add the warmed sugar to the cooked fruit and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil and cook until setting point is reached (105 degrees C if you have a jam thermometer) or if not, when the marmalade becomes noticeably thicker, and a small quantity placed in a cold plate forms a skin, or wrinkles, when you push it with your finger.

Note re JARS: Have your jars and lids washed, sterilised (I microwave my washed jars for 3 bursts of 1 minute: I oven heat their lids) and ready to fill. Hint: I use tall thin jars so that the light filters through the contents and the marmalade looks glorious.
This quantity made about a dozen 250 ml jars of lemony coloured marmalade, with pretty swirls of greenish skins. Very tasty, too.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1	Picture: 2

Robynjh says...
I make Lemonade butter, same recipe as any lemon butter, milder and we think delicious. Am about to try marmalade today.

Brain says...
Lemonade butter is a great idea, better fertilise my tree then.

It would be good if we can come up with 101 ways to use the lemonade lemon.

Brain says...
I've been told yes, true to type but without opening the seed and or grow it and see multiple seedlings, I can't confirm 100%.

There are only very few citrus that is not true to type, so in general, it's yes until otherwise informed.