As mentioned in Day 18 of The Challenge
As it was plum season, we somehow managed to buy several kilos of plums in a very short time period. In addition to eating them plain, they made their way into a variety of dishes. The plum jam was one batch, then the next day, starting with plums, apples and ginger in one pot, I split the jam and the chutney into 2 separate batches after passing it through the food mill. Play around with the sugar and spicing. I like my jam more fruity and less sweet. The compromise there though is that then it may be a little runnier, but I'll take it. If you like your jam sweeter or more gelled, add more sugar. Boiling for longer will also firm up the jam a little. Just be careful you don't boil it too long! One batch of marmalade I made a few years ago ended up a bit caramelised as the door bell rang just before it was ready.
Plum Jam
Ingredients:
2 kg of plums, halved and pitted
750g sugar
2 tbsp dried orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground cloves
2 c water
1) Place plums in a heavy bottomed pan. Add water and bring to a simmer. Stir in other ingredients. Put a saucer in the freezer.
2) Stir occasionally to prevent the jam from sticking. As it thickens you'll need to stir more consistently.
3) Taste test to check for sugar and spicing. I go light on sugar, you might want to use more.
4) Drop some of the hot jam on the saucer from the freezer. If after a minute if starts to solidify and the top wrinkles and pulls tight, it should gel nicely once cool. If not, then boil it a bit longer or add sugar (or both).
5) To sterilize jars: boil clean jars and their lids for at least 15 minutes. Fill them with the boiling jam immediately on removing them from the boiling water (canning tongs make this so much easier and makes it less likely that you'll burn yourself, but you can do it with a spoon or a spatula and a dish cloth). Fill to just below the rim, wipe the grooves clean and screw the lid on tight. As the jars and contents cool, the centre of the lid should be sucked down and the jars will be sealed properly. Place the jars upside down on a clean cloth. Label when cool. (The part about putting them upside down is from my German Oma, I don't know what's behind it but it works. )
Plum and Apple Jam:
Ingredients:
1 kg of plums
3 apples
1 large knob of ginger, peeled and minced or cut into julienne strips
4 cloves
(2 tsp of ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick. I didn't as I wanted this jam sufficiently different from the plum jam I had made the day before, but it works both ways)
500 g brown sugar
1) Place plums and apples in a heavy bottomed pan. Add water and bring to a simmer. Put a saucer in the freezer.
2) Stir occasionally to prevent the jam from sticking. As it thickens you'll need to stir more consistently.
3) Once the apples are soft, strain the jam through a food mill or push through a strainer. You can then either keep the skins and the pulp, as I did, or toss it and have jelly instead. Personally, I like the bits.
4) Stir in other ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste test to check for sugar and spicing (I tend to go easy on the sugar, so you might want to use more.)
5) Drop some of the hot jam on the saucer from the freezer. If after a minute if starts to solidify and the top wrinkles and pulls tight, it should gel nicely once cool. If not, then boil it a bit longer or add sugar (or both).
6) To sterilize jars: boil clean jars and their lids for at least 15 minutes. Fill them with the boiling jam immediately on removing them from the boiling water (canning tongs make this so much easier and makes it less likely that you'll burn yourself, but you can do it with a spoon or a spatula and a dish cloth). Fill to just below the rim, wipe the grooves clean and screw the lid on tight. As the jars and contents cool, the centre of the lid should be sucked down and the jars will be sealed properly. Place the jars upside down on a clean cloth. Label when cool. (The part about putting them upside down is from my German Oma, I don't know what's behind it but it works.)
Plum and Apple Chutney:
Ingredients:
1 kg of plums
3 apples
1 large knob of ginger, peeled and minced or cut into julienne strips
2 red onions, minced
2 red chillies
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 c brown sugar
1) Place plums and apples in a heavy bottomed pan. Add water and bring to a simmer. Put a saucer in the freezer.
2) Stir occasionally to prevent the jam from sticking. As it thickens you'll need to stir more consistently.
3) Once the apples are soft, strain the jam through a food mill or push through a strainer. Add the pulp and the peels to the strained fruit.
4) Stir in other ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste test to check for sugar and spicing.
5) Drop some of the hot chutney on the saucer from the freezer. If after a minute if starts to solidify and the top wrinkles and pulls tight, it should gel nicely once cool. If not, then boil it a bit longer or add sugar (or both).
6) To sterilize jars: boil clean jars and their lids for at least 15 minutes. Fill them with the boiling chutney immediately on removing them from the boiling water (canning tongs make this so much easier and makes it less likely that you'll burn yourself, but you can do it with a spoon or a spatula and a dish cloth). Fill to just below the rim, wipe the grooves clean and screw the lid on tight. As the jars and contents cool, the centre of the lid should be sucked down and the jars will be sealed properly. Place the jars upside down on a clean cloth. Label when cool. (The part about putting them upside down is from my German Oma, I don't know what's behind it but it works.)
In my experience, these keep for several years if properly sealed. These batches all came out very well. My husband swore that each successive one was the best I'd ever made and then declared that he couldn't choose a winner. We always have far too much jam as I can't resist buying home-made jam at farmstalls, and I make some every year, but it is like money in the bank. With jam in the cupboard, breakfasts are safe for a while to come! Jam is so tasty stirred into porridge, spread on bread, waffles, pancakes or used in cooking... I'm also enjoying taking advantage of fruits in season as the appear.