Jelly Honey: Lemon Jam

Lemon Jam History

Jam tarts are one of the first things my mum ever taught me to bake probably because a jam tart recipe is just so easy just a little pasty and jam or, for lemon tarts, using lemon curd.
It seems jam tarts have been around forever but any historical reference to jam tarts appears at the same time sugar was available for jam making (honey, though sweet is no good for making jam) and as sugar in any form was costly, the humble jam tart had a quite a status symbol. The tarts no longer carry such celebrity, and has been out of fashion for quite some time but in these straitened are making a come back.

In a little tome that is a cross between a volume of local history and a cookery book — The Blue Mountains Olde and New Ways Cookbook by Juliette Palmer Frederick (Katoomba 1992) — there is a recipe for a simple lemon marmalade that follows.
Take four lemons and cover with water (under 600 ml) in a saucepan.
Boil till the lemons are tender and switch off heat..Remove, halve and de-pip the lemons, then dice or slice them finely.Return chopped fruit and juice to liquid in saucepan..Add 500 gm sugar and boil fast for, say 15 mins, i.e. till setting stage is reached.Place in sterilised jars and seal.