Keto Raspberry Lemonade Marmalade

The flavors in this sugar-free marmalade are the essence of summer. Bright, tart lemon and sweet, slightly-floral raspberries combine in a scrumptious spread that you’re going to want to slather on just about everything. You can use it in sandwiches (great for back-to-schoolers!), or as a topping for your keto crepes or pancakes. And that’s not all: there are some wild ways to use this keto marmalade at the end of this post!

Tips for making the Keto Raspberry Lemonade Marmalade

If you think keto jam- or marmalade-making is difficult, think again. This one is really easy to make. Preparations don’t take long; half an hour max, including cooking time. That said, the marmalade needs a long time to set properly. It’ll need to sit in the fridge overnight before it’s stiff enough to use.

This erythritol-sweetened marmalade is not very sweet: I wanted to keep it less sweet and more refreshing. However, if you have a serious sweet tooth, you can add, say, stevia for more sweetness. But I’m reluctant to promote overly sweet dishes, because I want to encourage people to wean themselves off sweetened stuff in general… But that’s up to you, naturally. And if you want to avoid sweeteners altogether, feel free to omit them.

Speaking of sweeteners, if you use erythritol, it’s important to use powdered erythritol here, not erythritol granules or crystals, which impart a gritty feeling to cold desserts like jam, pudding and this marmalade. If you don’t want to use erythritol at all, you can replace it with liquid stevia or stevia powder (just check that there is no maltodextrin or other baddies in the product).

Now let’s take a look at how to make this delicious keto marmalade:

Take a washed organic lemon. Grate the peel…

…and squeeze the juice. Set aside.

Take a large saucepan. Add the raspberries…

…powdered erythritol…

…and the water.

Mix well.

Whoops! Almost forgot the lemon peel. It’s essential!

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Once boiling, reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes or until the raspberries are soft.

However, after the raspberry mixture has simmered for 10 minutes, take the lemon juice and pour it into a small cup.

Add the gelatin powder.

Let bloom while the raspberries finish simmering (about 5 minutes).

When the raspberries are soft, remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the bloomed gelatin to the hot raspberry mixture.

Mix until the gelatin has completely dissolved.

Ladle the marmalade into sterilized glass jars or into a glass or ceramic container if you plan to use it within a few days.

Let cool to room temperature. Place in the fridge to set overnight.

Enjoy! (Check out more ways to enjoy this marmalade at the end of this post.)

 

My keto marmalade experiments

When writing my Low Sugar, So Simple book, I experimented with sugar-free orange marmalade. For some reason, I decided I had to have a sugar-free orange marmalade recipe in the book, no matter what. I had never made sugar-free marmalade myself, so it was a challenging task. I do have several sugar-free jam recipes, but this time I wanted something different, and I was interested in marmalade as its texture is sturdier and more “knifeable” or sliceable. (I actually always use a knife for marmalade and a spoon for jam.) And there is just something more sinful about marmalade than jam—at least I think so!

When conducting my sugar-free marmalade experiments, I tried different thickeners, but the only thickener that produced a marmalade-like texture was gelatin. Xanthan, guar gum, and glucomannan made all it too slimy or custard-like. Or jam-like, which wasn’t what I wanted.

After finding the perfect ratios for the ingredients and getting the marmalade set properly into a thick, sturdy consistency, I was really happy with my result — it was like store-bought orange marmalade!

So, encouraged by my successful sugar-free orange marmalade recipe for the book, I thought about different variations. I jotted down the raspberry lemonade marmalade idea, among others, but didn’t manage to do anything about it until this week, when I finally started pondering how to create it. From the very beginning, it was clear to me that I’d have to include lemon peel and lemon juice in the marmalade. Lemon peel is a must: it lends a really refreshing and fruity note to almost anything. And it really amps up the lemonade flavor.

Funnily enough, at almost the same time I was conducting these raspberry lemonade marmalade experiments, I was also working on some raspberry chia jam experiments for my keto-vegan blog, and also for the Finnish keto-vegan book that I’m currently writing. I’m not usually that big a fan of chia seeds because of their characteristic texture, but for chia jam — especially when paired with raspberry — they are a perfect ingredient. Raspberry chia jam is super crunchy!

I thought about posting a recipe for raspberry lemonade chia jam, but decided it would be a nice variation on the recipe in my Finnish keto-vegan book (which, by the way, will be also published in English in 2021). Anyway, marmalade instead of jam is nice for a change – especially when it’s this yummy!

And here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:

 


 

Nutrition Information	In total	Per tablespoon
Protein	13.4 g	0.3 g
Fat	3.8 g	0.1 g
Net carbs	27.5 g	0.5 g
kcal	818 kcal	5 kcal

 

Tips for variation and how to use the marmalade

There are endless ways to use this marmalade! The most obvious way is to slather it on slices of keto bread. And it also makes a great topping for low-carb crepes or pancakes. But it also doubles as a filling in your keto cakes or cupcakes—or you can mix the marmalade with whipped cream or cream cheese to create a rich, tasty, voluminous filling for your cakes, or a delicious mousse that makes a perfect dessert.

My favorite way to use this marmalade, though, is to use it to make keto ice cream. Raspberry Lemonade Keto Ice Cream is absolutely addictive! (Just let me know if you want the recipe: I’ll post it here on my blog). Here’s the photo of the ice cream:

AND, I love pairing the marmalade with the keto bread you can see in the photos. (Just ask for the bread recipe and you’ll get it!)

You can also use this fruity treat in your keto smoothies or shakes, or as a topping for your breakfast yogurt. Sprinkle some chopped nuts on top and a perfect—and perfectly healthy—breakfast is ready!

As a dessert or snack, you can enjoy this marmalade with different types of cheeses. I bet it tastes wonderful on a slice of goat cheese or Camembert!

Think of this recipe as a basic keto marmalade recipe you can easily vary. I still love the orange marmalade recipe in my Low Sugar, So Simple book, but I’m planning on conducting some more interesting flavor experiments with other berries, like strawberries and blueberries. Blueberries are great with lemon, too, but I think I would use vanilla powder and vanilla extract with blueberry marmalade. And with strawberries, something exciting and exotic, like fresh basil or rose pepper, would be worth trying. Orange peel would lend a delicious orange flavor to any marmalade version without adding carbs. And speaking of citrus fruits, lime juice and lime peel are great natural flavor enhancers, too. Lime is a perfect match for raspberries!

Actually, for winter, I might make orange marmalade (see my book for the basic sugar-free orange marmalade recipe) spiced with cinnamon, star anise and maybe also cardamom and cloves.

Which variation you are going to try?