Category: Jam

Spiced apple butter

I’ve managed to get a good crop of apples this year, but I also got a good crop of windfalls and fruit with blemishes. I made spiced apple butter, and it was delicious. It is, effectively, apple jam that has had the fruit sieved. The sugar to fruit ratio is in favour of the fruit, so it won’t last as well as jam, but it is too sweet any other way. It is a good way to use up less-than-perfect eating apples. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg apples, chopped roughly, no need to core and peel but easier if you do. 
  • 500ml dry cider
  • Sugar
  • Powdered cinnamon
  • Ground cloves
  • (you can also add mulled wine spices in a muslin bag, as an alternative)

METHOD:

  • Chop the apples and stew in a large pan with the cider, for around 30 minutes, until the fruit is all soft. If you are using whole spices, they should be added at the start in a muslin bag.
  • Remove the muslin bag and then put the stewed fruit through a coarse sieve or mouli. 
  • Weigh the pulp. For each 500g of pulp add 360g sugar, 1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground cloves. I put my jam pan on the scales, and measured the pulp into it. When I got the final weight, I divided that by 500 and then multiplied by 360 to get the weight of sugar. 
  • Bring back to a simmer. Once it is thick and at jam temperature, put it into warmed clean jars. Remember to stir regularly, otherwise the bottom of the pan reaches a very high temperature and when you try to stir it, it spatters. 

 

Dried Apricot and Angelica Jam

I made this in a large quantity the first time, which was a mistake. When making jam, smaller quantities are easier to manage. This was the outcome of round 2. I also used local angelica, which has a strange and pungeant smell on its own, but divine in apricot jam. The wild angelica locally is Angelica sylvestris, and you need to be sure of your plant identification. It is very common locally. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g dried apricots, chopped
  • 1.9 litres water
  • 3 stems of angelica, finely chopped
  • 2 lemons
  • 1.5 kg sugar

METHOD:

  • Chop the angelica and apricots, and cover with the water in the jam pan. Leave to soak for 48 to 72 hours
  • Simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apricots are soft. 
  • Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir until dissolved, then boil rapidly to setting point. Pour into warmed clean jam jars. 

Rhubarb, pear and ginger

Another rhubarb jam revelation. I thought that the pear flavour would be drowned out, but no, this is a winner. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg rhubarb stems, chopped
  • 2 pears (around 200g)
  • 50g crystalised stem ginger
  • 1.2kg sugar
  • Juice of 2 lemons, or one lemon, one orange

METHOD:

  • Chop the rhubarb, and chop the ginger, mix and cover with the sugar
  • The next day, add the lemon juice, and the peeled chopped pears. 
  • Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the jam is thick.
  • Pour into warmed jars. 

Rhubarb and dried fig jam

This is not the most visually appealing jam, but it sets well and tastes delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg chopped rhubarb stems
  • 500g dried figs
  • 600ml water
  • 1.5kg sugar
  • Juice of 2 large lemons (or one lemon, one orange)

METHOD:

  • Soak the figs in the water for 48 hours minimum
  • After 24 hours of soaking the figs, chop the rhubarb, put into the jam pan and cover with the sugar
  • After another 24 hours. add the lemon juice to the figs and water, and bring to a simmer. Keep a close watch, the mixture can quickly stick. As soon as it is  boiling, add to the jam pan, and bring everything to the boil. Cook for 20 minutes, until thick and jammy. Pour into warmed jars. 

Rhubarb and angelica jam

Angelica is an interesting herb. It is one of the key ingredients in gin, fixing and stabilising the other flavours. It grows wild in Uist, and just about now, at the start of July, the flower stems are emerging. It is a biennial plant, growing in the first year, and flowering in the second year before dying. The flower stem itself is the best bit for preserving, which will affect seed production for the following year, so harvest wisely. 

For this recipe, use 50g chopped candied angelica for each kilo of rhubarb. It makes a rhubarb jam flavoured with a hint of gin. 

I think that adding the angelica and lemon juice at the start allows the angelica flavour to disperse well into the other ingredients. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg rhubarb
  • 50g angelica, chopped
  • juice of two lemons
  • 1kg sugar

METHOD:

  • Chop the rhubarb into 1cm lengths, and finely chop the angelica, and put into the jam pan with the lemon juice, and covered in sugar. Stir well and leave overnight
  • The next day, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes, until thick. Pour into prepared jars. 

Rhubarb and ginger jam

The classic jam. For each kilo of rhubarb, I use 50 grams of chopped crystalised ginger. You can also used powdered ginger, and adjust according to taste. If you love ginger, double the amount. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg chopped rhubarb stems
  • 50g chopped crystalised ginger or 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger
  • 1kg sugar
  • juice of two small lemons

METHOD:

  • Chop the rhubarb and the ginger into the jam pan, and cover with the sugar. Leave overnight.
  • The next day, bring to the boil and then add the lemon juice. Simmer for around 20 minutes, until thick. 
  • Pour into warmed jars. 

Rhubarb and raspberry

This is a revelation, an excellent use of the reduced raspberries in the co-op, amazing flavour and a good setting jam. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1.2 kg rhubarb
  • 600g raspberries (four x 150g punnets)
  • You could substitute 600g strawberries, for strubarb jam. Raspberries work better, in my opinion. 
  • 1.8kg sugar
  • Juice of two lemons

METHOD:

  • Chop the rhubarb and put it in the jam pan and cover with sugar, leave overnight
  • The next day, add the raspberries (or strawberries), bring to a simmer for 20 minutes until the rhubarb is cooked. 
  • Add lemon juice, bring back to the boil and simmer until the jam is thickening. 
  • Pour into warmed clean jamjars.

 

Rhubarb and Orange Jam

Every spring I buy Seville oranges to make marmalade, and I take care to buy extra, and I juice them and freeze this as an ingredient in the summer. You can make a delicious Seville orange curd, or use it for a delicate pie filling. This year, I used it to make rhubarb jam. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2kg rhubarb, chopped
  • 2kg jam sugar
  • 100 to 150ml Seville orange juice

METHOD:

  • Put the rhubarb in the jam pan, and pour over the sugar. Leave this to combine until the next day. 
  • Add the orange juice, bring to a boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. 
  • Once the mixture is thick, pour into warmed jam jars. 

Rhubarb conserve

Variation 1 on the great rhubarb jam sessions. This is from an old book called 500 recipes: jams, pickles and chutneys, by Marguerite Patten. Mine is priced 2/6 so it is quite old. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1kg rhubarb, chopped
  • 1kg jam sugar
  • 250g raisins or sultanas
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 orange

METHOD:

  • Put the chopped rhubarb in the jam pan and cover with sugar, and leave to stand until the next day
  • Add the raisins, and bring to a slow boil for 20 minutes
  • Add the juice and grated rind of one lemon and one orange, and boil until the jam is thick.
  • Pour into warmed jars, and leave to set. 

Rhubarb jam

This has been the year of rhubarb. I moved a crown of rhubarb to deep peaty soil a couple of years ago, and it has gone mad. The warm wet weather and seaweed has led to monster stems, and I have been trying out jam recipes. I’ll add a few variations as I test them out. 

The main ingredients for simple rhubarb jam are very simple. First pull your rhubarb. It is better for the plant to pull the stems from the crown, rather than cutting them. Choose stems that are over a foot long, the longer the better. Don’t take any stems that have settled on the surface of the soil for any length of time, they will not be such good quality. Use the leaves as a surface mulch in the veg garden.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Rhubarb stems, washed and sliced to around 1 cm long
  • Equal weight of sugar
  • For each 500g rhubarb, add the juice of a lemon 

METHOD:

  • Put the rhubarb in the jam pan and cover with the sugar. Leave to stand until the next day. 
  • Add the lemon juice, and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for around 20 minutes, until the jam is thick. Keep stirring to prevent anything from sticking to the base of the pan. 
  • Pour into warm sterilised jam jars. 

I warm my washed jamjars in the oven at 80C. Putting them through a dish washer first is good as well. I sterilise the jar lids in boiling water.