Oh Yes!!! At Last At Last!!! It's Here!!
Autumn My Favourite Season.
I have been watching the hedgerows for weeks now. Spotting the flowers, the promise of Fruits to come.
So last Saturday we gathered up our buckets and our new puppy
And off we went
Picking Blackberries!!! Yay!
Our fruit trees are laden down with Apples,Plums,Pears so we got busy picking.
How to preserve all this gorgeous harvest?? Why Jam of course!
It's the easiest thing in the world to make and yum on freshly baked scones or crusty bread. Basically you match the weight of your fruit with the weight of sugar.
I thought I'd share my recipe for Damson Plum and Apple Jam :)
You will need
2.2lb (1kg) Fruit, Decide how much apple you want to mix with the Plums
It really is up to you once your fruit weight is 2.2lb
2.2lb (1kg) Granulated Sugar
12 fl oz (300ml) Water
Sterilise your jars by washing them in warm soapy water then putting them in the oven at 100 degrees for 20 mins or until your Jam is ready.
Place the lids in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer till needed.
Put two small plates or saucers into the freezer Wash the Fruit
Peel & Chop up your Apples again its up to you if you want nice chunks of fruit or fine slivers.Place in your deepest saucepan with the Plums and all the Water.
No, you don't have to do anything to the plums other than wash them. Believe me this is soooooo easy!
Place on your Hob and slowly bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 mins until the fruit is soft and squishy.
Add the Sugar
And stir until it dissolves.
If you have a timer or stopwatch set to 15 mins then bring the fruit to a rapid bubbling boil and Boil for 15 mins.
You will see the little stones from the Plums pop up to the surface as the fruit boils.
CAREFULLY remove them from the pot. I repeat Carefully! It is Boiling :O)
After 15 mins remove from the heat, take one of your plates from the freezer and spoon a small bit of Jam onto it. Place it back in the freezer for a minute. Now test it for setting point.
Take the saucer from the freezer and push back on the Jam with your finger. If it wrinkles it is ready. If not just put the fruit back on the boil for a few more minutes and test again with the second saucer.
I usually end up putting some from the saucer on a piece of bread "quality control" and the makers privilege ;O) yum!
Once you are happy that setting point has been reached,take your jars from the oven and fill with your gorgeous gooey Jam. Clean the top of the Jar with a damp cloth and seal with lid.
Wipe the Jars with a damp cloth, make your own label (if you wish) and
Congratulations!!! You made Jam!
This recipe makes 3lb of Jam.
Use any fruit or combinations of fruit you like. Experiment have fun!
You can adjust the weights any way you want to get a bigger volume of Jam.
Just equal the weight of fruit to sugar.
If you want to use less sugar the setting will be slower but you could try the Jam Sugar that has Pectin added. Pectin is the setting ingredient found in fruit. High in apples lower in blackberries and plums so it's great to add a few apples to a Jam to aid setting (and flavour).
Don't get worked up about Setting Point. TRUST your instinct. And even if your bottled Jam doesn't set just empty them it back into your saucepan and boil again. Don't worry it Will Work!
You can use frozen Blackberries,Plums,etc just defrost first.
To store a large batch of Apples or Pears just wrap each individual piece in newspaper and they will keep for months.
Jam makers lucky wooden spoon available in my shop
Enjoy Your Jam!
Phew! Long Post!
Happy Crafting Y'all ♥
Live Music which included Ray Lynham & Richie Kavanagh. A Photo exhibition with great talents and an open day in the fire station.
