Homemade jam has to be one of my all time favourite things to make. I love the way my house smells when I make it. I love the beautiful bright colour of the jam. And most of all I love stacking jars and jars of it.
Yes I know it is in the middle of winter and fresh berries are hard to come by. However, I have a bumper crop of homegrown raspberries harvested from my garden this season. I freeze most of it waiting for the right time to make my jam as due to my full time job.
Raspberries have such a short shelf life, and they are rather delicate, so jam is a good use for them. Before making the jam, let the berries thawed. If you don't have homegrown berries, fresh or frozen from supermarket work just as well.
Ingredients:
- 800g raspberries, if frozen, let it thaw
- 700g sugar
- 5 tbsp lemon juice
Method:
Before we start making the jam, firstly we need to prepare the jars. Place some clean jam jars on a baking tray and then into the oven preheated to 100ºC for 20 minutes to sterilized them. Place the lid is a large bowl & pour in boiling water. Let the lid sits for 10 minutes and wipes dry with a clean tea towel. Put two to three small saucers in the freezer to chill.
Put the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice into a preserving pan or similar. Place the pan over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar has dissolved. You can tell by running a wooden spoon over the bottom of the pan.
Bring the pan to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and place a few drops of jam onto the chilled saucer. Place the saucer in fridge for about a minute. Test the set by running your finger through the jam, if it forms a crinkle and is gel like, then the jam is ready to bottle.
If the jam is not ready, continue boiling for another 2-3 minutes and re-test until ready.
Use a jam funnel, ladle to the sterilized jam jars and seal with lids immediately.
Store in a cool dark place and refrigerate once opened.
No comments:
Post a Comment