Saturday 19 June 2010

Raspberry Jam

Lucie has a lovely Blog, Cooking at Marystow. which I visit quite a lot. She had a post about jam the other day which used frozen fruit which I thought was a great idea. I wanted to make raspberry jam but the fresh raspberries are lovely just now but much too nice and too pricey to make jam. It's a very easy jam to make and quick. The rule of thumb is 1 lb (450g) of fruit to 1lb (450g) of sugar so it is very easy to calculate whatever the amount of fruit you have. It is just lovely on a freshly baked scone. I don't think it's a good idea to make vast quantities of jam at once as it takes longer to boil. This makes the sugar caramelise and you get a very dark jam. This is great news if you want dark marmalade but not so for fresh fruit jam. A Kilo of fruit will give you about four 12 oz/350g jars of jam. I like to push the raspberries through a sieve to take out some of the seeds but if they don't worry you there is no need to bother. Remember to use a very big pan as the fruit and sugar need room to boil. Raspberries, like most soft fruits, are low in pectin so I use jam sugar to reach a set. It makes life a lot easier.


Equipment

Large heavy based saucepan/stock pot/preserving pan
Warm sterilised jam jars (Pop them in the oven while you are making the jam this does both jobs)
Sieve if required
Wooden spoon or spatula for stirring.
Large jug
Sugar Thermometer if you have one or place a small saucer in the fridge

Ingredients

I Kilo of raspberries frozen or fresh (get the cheapest frozen you can find)
1 Kilo of jam or preserving sugar
Juice of a lemon


Method

Reducing seeds

Place the raspberries in the pan and heat until the juices run.
Push fruit through a wide gauge sieve.
This will remove most but not all of the seeds.
You need to keep scraping it back and forth with a spatula to get all the pulp through..
Now place the juice in a pan with the sugar and lemon juice.

You can skip this bit and just put the fruit in the pan with the sugar and lemon juice.
Keep stirring over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. (This is but a few minutes)
Turn up the heat and bring to a rolling boil for about 4 -5 minutes until a set is reached.
If you are using a jam thermometer a set is 102.C/220.F
If you aren't using a thermometer place about a teasp of the jam on a cold saucer and leave for a few moments. Push it gently with your finger. if it wrinkles it has reached a set.
Using your jug decant into the warm jars.
Wait for it to cool and enjoy





13 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Your jam looks so delicious! I bet it tastes wonderful on some homemade bread.

Cheers,

Rosa

Grannymar said...

Home made Raspberry is my favourite jam, it brings back memories of eating it on warm wheaten scones fresh from the oven!

Brownieville Girl said...

Great idea to sieve the raspberries - I'll do that from now on!!

Totally agree about using frozen - there would be no fresh ones left in my pot!!!

I'd love some of your jam for breakfast!

Rhyleysgranny said...

Rosa - Thanks. It did turn out well

Grannymar - My favourite way too. I had the oven on while the jam was cooling.

BVG - I don't mind some seeds but I do find lots a bit off putting

Mary said...

Hi , your came out real good , nice!

Anna's kitchen table said...

Such a good idea to use frozen fruit! I'll remember that! Thanks Brenda and Lucie :-)

Anonymous said...

Your jam looks delicious! Having made lemon curd for the first time recently (inspired by Lucie's jam making exploits on her blog) I am building myself up to make tomato jam...the problem is I keep buying loads of tomatoes and leaving them on the window sill to ripen, but then eating them!

Gloria Baker said...

Look absolutely delicious dear Brenda! I love raspberry jam! gloria

BetterLate said...

I've rather got out of the habit of making jam simply because I used to make it in large quantities (for family consumption) in a jam pan. Silly me - it didn't occur to me I could still make it, but a little at a time.

Zuzu said...

Imm it looks so delicious! I've never eat raspberry jam

best wishes
sema

Charlotte said...

Have bookmarked this recipe as we're going berry picking soon!

Blue Skies
Charlotte xx

http://housewife-chic.blogspot.com

George@CulinaryTravels said...

The jam looks perfect Brenda. I always sieve the raspberries too as I don't like the texture otherwise. Fresh berries are far too good atm for preserves ... but I'm always on the lookout for a bargain to store in the freezer to have on hand later.

Lucie said...

This looks wonderful Brenda - thank you so much for the mention - I am very touched. Love Lucie xx