Rhubarb and raisin jam

I tried this unusual recipe from a very very old recipe book, and I’m glad that I did. It is from Marguerite Patten’s ‘500 recipes for jams, pickles, chutneys (2/6 – which is 2 shillings and 6 pence, total 12 1/2p)

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 kg rhubarb, cut into slices
  • 1 kg sugar
  • 200g raisins
  • 1 lemon
  • 100ml cointreau or orange juice

METHOD:

  • Put the sliced rhubarb into a jam pan, and cover with the sugar. Leave overnight
  • Put the raisins or sultanas in a bowl with the orange juice or cointreau
  • In the morning, bring the rhubarb and sugar to a simmer, and add the raisins. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, then add the rind and juice of a large lemon
  • Boil until the syrup is thick, and pour into jars to set.

Blackcurrant and rhubarb jam

What a dark summer we have had, not enough sun to bring on some of the fruit. I didn’t get a great crop on my blackcurrant bushes, so I made this recipe to make the fruit go further. It was a great success, and set very well. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g blackcurrants
  • 500g chopped rhubarb
  • 1kg jam sugar
  • 300ml water

METHOD:

  • Simmer the blackcurrants in the water for around 15 minutes
  • Add the rhubarb and simmer until soft
  • Add the sugar, stir to dissolve it, and then boil rapidly to setting point. 
  • Pour into clean jars that have been warmed in the oven. 

You can use cooking apples instead of rhubarb as well; rub the cooked fruit through a sieve or fine mouli to remove the pips. 

Blackberry & apple jam/cheese

Blackberry pips in jam; bothersome. Jelly; too much fruit wasted. There is a third way, making a fruit ‘cheese’ – essentially you cook the fruit and then force it through a sieve or mouli

INGREDIENTS

This can be made proportionally. 

  • 1 quantity of blackberries
  • half that weight in cooking apple, such as bramley, chopped, cored but not peeled
  • 1 tbsp water for each 150g blackberries
  • jam sugar

METHOD

  • Simmer the apple and the blackberries together in the water, until the apple is soft. 
  • Put the cooked fruit through the mouli on the finest setting. 
  • Measure the pulp: for each 100g pulp add 100g jam sugar
  • Boil the sugar and pulp together to setting point. 
  • Pour into warmed clean jars. 

Rhubarb and ginger jam

I mentioned the large quantities of jam in our house to Spaid, and he started reminiscing about rhubarb jam, the best jam in the world if you come from the Hebrides. I made some, adds good vibes to work. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1 kg summer rhubarb, chopped into very small segments
  • 25 g crystalised ginger
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 kg jam sugar

METHOD:

  • Chop the rhubarb and put it in the jam pan, with the finely chopped crystalised ginger, and the lemon juice. Pour the sugar over the top. Leave the mixture overnight. 
  • The next day, heat the rhubarb and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved, and then quickly bring to a fast boil, and boil until setting point is reached. 
  • Pour into warmed jars. 

 

Raspberry Jam

Malcolm managed to buy some extremely cheap raspberries the other day. I came home from work and there were mad amounts of fruit in the kitchen. He had also bought some strawberries, and he made some industrial quantities of strawberry jam. I made raspberry jam and it is as red as rubies, and speckled with pips, absolutely glorious on scones. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 kg raspberries
  • 1 kg sugar
  • Juice of 1 orange (optional)

METHOD:

  • Warm the sugar in the oven
  • Meanwhile, put the raspberries in a large jam pan with the orange juice, and bring to a simmer
  • Add the sugar, and bring to a hot boil, and keep boiling until you reach setting point. I use the thermometer as a general guide, and the flake test to be sure. Don’t be afraid, a fast boil on full heat works best. 
  • Pour into clean warmed jars and seal. 

The flake test:
Dip a clean wooden spoon into the jam.  Hold the spoon over the pan and twist it to cool the jam, then allow the cooling jam to drip from the edge of the spoon.  If the drips run together and start to set, forming wide-based ‘flakes’, then the jam is at setting point. 

Marmalade – another method

There are many ways to make marmalade, and lots of advice about the perfect version. This is ‘method 1’ in Bulletin 21 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, printed in 1971. I got the book at a jumble sale in 1981.

I published this tonight, as I promised the recipe to someone who’d tried the marmalade. I can’t remember if she had the Aperol batch though. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1.5 kg seville oranges
  • 2 lemons
  • 2.25 litres of water
  • 3 kg sugar
  • Optional extra – 200ml of Aperol – reduce water to 2 litres

METHOD:

  • With a potato peeler, shave strips of peel from the oranges and lemons. Cut the peel very finely, into strips about 1cm long and the thickness of a penny. You don’t need to do all the peel, it depends on how much you really like it. 
  • Put the peel in a pan with some of the water, and simmer for around 2 hours, until the peel is tender. 
  • Cut up the rest of the fruit coarsely and simmer with the remaining water in a closed pan for around 1 1/2 hours. When cooked, strain through a colander to remove the pips. 
  • Add the strained juice (and optional aperol) to the peel, bring to the boil and then add the sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. 
  • Bring the marmalade to a fast boil, until setting point is reached. When you have decided the marmalade is ready, turn off the heat, and skim off any foamy scum. 
  • Let the marmalade cool quite a bit in the pan: this means that the peel distributes evenly in the jar. 
  • Pour into warmed glass jars, and seal. 

Fig and Rhubarb Jam

Noms. I made this because I had the ingredients. It turned out very tasty and set well. The recipe is from Marguerite Patten’s book ’500 recipes for jams, pickles and chutneys’ price 2 shillings and sixpence. I thought it would be out of print, but NO it is really available on Amazon, newer edition than mine though.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb dried figs
  • 2 lb chopped rhubarb
  • 1 pint of water
  • 3 lb sugar
  • Juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon

METHOD:

  • Soak the figs in the water for 48 hours, then simmer until soft
  • Add the rhubarb, and cook to form a thick pulp
  • Add the sugar and lime juice, simmer until the sugar is dissolved
  • Boil hard to setting point
  • Then put it in jars.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

This is a classic. I use a very old version from a book by Marguerite Patten; the book is priced 2/6! The jam is best with rhubarb cut late in the year. I have recently reviewed this alongside the ‘Maw Broon’s cookbook’ and updated it. As usual, most of the ingredients can be ethically sourced.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 800g-1kg Rhubarb, locally grown
  • 200g crystalised ginger
  • 1kg jam sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon

METHOD:

  • Cut the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces, and cover with the sugar to stand overnight.
  • Chop the ginger finely and sprinkle into the sugar.
  • Cook slowly in a jam pan, until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Add the lemon juice and bring to the boil. Heat quickly until the jam is thick, and boil for about 15 minutes.
  • Pour into clean warmed jars.

Quince and roses

I got given some quinces so I had a stab at making quince marmalade. I added some essence of roses, and it was inspired. Thank you to Mrs Bird.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 Quinces – each quince produces around 100g flesh
  • 1 lemon
  • 500g jam sugar
  • 2 tbsp rose water
  • Water

METHOD:

  • I wiped the fuzz off the quinces, put them in a pan and covered them in water, and simmered in a covered pan for an hour.
  • Once the quinces were tender, I cooled them, peeled and cored them and chopped the flesh up into small chunks.
  • I added the peel and cores to the remaining water and boiled this up with the zest of the lemon. The liquid started to change to a gentle light red.
  • I strained the liquid, and then added the rose water and lemon juice, and made the volume up to around 300ml
  • I put the chopped quince into the liquid, and started boiling, as the colour darkened I added the jam sugar, and boiled to setting point. (I used a jam thermometer, but I also used the cold plate technique)
  • I poured into clean jars that I had heated up in the oven.

The test on the spoon was wonderful, but the true test will be in the morning when I try it on toast.