Summer in the northern hemisphere is basically over and thus, this post possibly already too late. However, I’ve been asked for recipes for my jams several times (yes I’m not making that up 😀 ) and depending on where you live there still might be fresh local fruits which you can pick or buy. And if not: frozen fruit always works as an alternative. Or fresh (not from concentrate) juice in case you’re up for a jelly.
Now that you had to watch the above video clip about twenty times in a loop (or have you discover the pause function?), feel free to scroll down to drool over this wonderful photo of my strawberry red currant jam before I’ll be sharing lots of tips with you…
General tips
Sugar
It is common knowledge that homemade jams taste the best, isn’t it? And above all, in my opinion, if you’re not using conventional white sugar. I used raw cane sugar for all of my jams as this one is just more aromatic. Organic and fairtrade seals are preferable, and especially so in case you live in a country that does not cultivate cane sugar = long transport routes on top. On a side note, raw cane sugar has no noteworthy health benefits compared to white sugar¹.
The appropiate ratio
The common ratios of fruit and sugar are 1:1 (one part of fruit to one part of sugar), 2:1 (two parts of fruit to one part of sugar) and 3:1 (three parts of fruit to one part of sugar). A 3:1 jam therefore tastes less sweet than a 1:1 jam. Depending on what kind of fruit you’re using and how sweet or sour it is by nature, choose the appropiate ratio yourself. Or just go with the 2:1 ratio that, to me, seems to be the most common one.
Ready-mix?
Jam sugar can be bought as a ready-mix or you can mix it yourself. Conventional jam sugar rarely is without preservatives and further additives which actually aren’t necessary for making jam. The common thickening agent is apple pectin (E440) which you theoretically can extract from apples yourself. I opted for a convenient version and bought an organic 2:1 jam sugar which per 500 grams only has the following ingredients: 97,4% raw cane sugar and 2,6% pectin. You can find the product that I used (if you’re in or close to Germany) here.
Acidifying agent
Don’t forget that you have to add fresh lemon juice to a jam sugar that contains no acidifiers. Often, that info only written in small text on the back of the packaging. For the above mentioned jam sugar, the juice of one lemon is needed per 500 grams.
Weighing
Fruits are weighed after deseeding and cutting. If you end up having too little fruit, just reduce the amount of jam sugar according to the correct ratio. The same applies to juice. But the ratio of juice to jam sugar generally is different because pure juice obviously needs more gelling agent to become firm.
Preparation
For the appropriate consistency, it is advisable to blend the minced pieces of firm types of fruits (e.g. plums or strawberries) slightly before heading to the stove. Blend the fruit mass until smooth in case you don’t like to have any chunks in your jam.
The containers
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how many jars you’ll need as that completely depends on the size of your jars of course. But there’s one thing I can tell you: Prepare way more than you think you’ll need. You should sterilize them with boiling water or in the oven. Small jars come in handy if you want to gift some jam to someone or if you tend to use up a jar of jam very slowly.
Boiling
The mass of fruit and jam sugar usually doesn’t have to be boiled for long, but it has to be stirred constantly. To find out whether the mass is prepared, test for a set. That means you place a tiny amount of it on a plate and wait until it has cooled down. If the consistency still isn’t firm enough, boil the mass for another minute (or more) and perform another test.
Additional ingredients
Additional ingredients such as spices or minced nuts have to be boiled together with the fruits and mustn’t be added later on to ensure that your jam will be preserved. A pinch of ground vanilla for example can soften and complete the taste of a sour fruit mix. Dare to experiment!
Filling the jars
When the mass is still hot but doesn’t cook at a rapid boil anymore, it should be promptly poured into the jars. Close the lid tightly right after each jar is filled.
Turning the jars upside down or not?
No! The heat alone should seal the jars appropriately² if the lid has been accurately cleaned and sterilized, no matter if you are using a screw top jar or jelly jar. Even though a jelly jar should be leakproof, it still can leak when the mass is still hot and you turn the jar upside down – it’s not properly closed anymore. Use the clamps that come with it and remove them when the jam is completely cooled down. If you achieved a proper vacuum, you can hold the jars by the lid and it won’t come off.² Furthermore, it is said that turning closed screw top jars upside down liberates plasticizers from the lids into the jam, buuut I didn’t look up trustworthy resources for that claim, so yeah. 😉
Jams I made
Strawberry red currant
This year, I started with a jam made of strawberries and red currants. Strawberry jam is one of my absolute favourites, especially the homemade one from my granny. But this one turned out even better! I love it! Due to the acidity of the red currants, this jam tastes more refreshing and “more fruity”. If you want to try this combination as well, I recommend using one part of red currants to three parts of strawberries at max to still keep it tasting like strawberry jam. So pick something between a fourth and a fifth for the red currants. I blended the mass, but not until completely smooth.
Blackberry
We picked many wild blackberries this year (find tips on that on this Instagram post of mine) and lots of those were super delicious specimens. Blackberries are likely to boil to shreds, which means they don’t necessarily have to be blended.
Fig
In the past, I made delectable fig jams (I still have one jar) and created the following combinations: well-blended figs with a touch of dark chocolate and chili, as well as finely chopped figs with minced and roasted pecans. Yummmy!
Spiced plum puree (jam)
In German, the word for plum jam doesn’t sound like it’s a jam at all, and to be fair, it actually differs a bit from the other jams I mentioned. At least the kind I’m talking about which is common in Europe. Anyhow, I made spiced plum jam for the first time this year and used plums we picked ourselves. The recipes I found on the internet sound extreme to begin with: the plums have to be boiled down to jam for hours until they finally are ready to be filled into jars. Therefore I followed along a recipe that suggested placing the plums with the sugar and spices into a large baking dish in the oven and no stirring would be required. After the suggested cooking time passed however, the plums still looked almost the same and I decided to place the baking dish onto the stove and cook the mass while stirring. Lo and behold – the plums boiled down way faster. Therefore I’m not sure I’d recommend the oven method. Maybe if you finely pureed the plums beforehand…
Additional inspiration
Have you ever tried strawberry jam on top of a slice of cheese (vegan of course, my favourite German brand is Bedda!)? I loved that already as a child and my strawberry red currant jam absolutely called for it. Please comment whether you ever had that combo! 😀
Cake using leftover fruits
To make you even hungrier, I wanted to show you the two cakes I made with my leftover blackberries (no-bake cake) and leftover plums (ist it called crumble flat cake? I don’t know). Well, you’re welcome! ♥
Resources
¹ https://www.vzhh.de/themen/lebensmittel-ernaehrung/zucker/ist-rohrohrzucker-gesuender-als-normaler-haushaltszucker
² https://www.wurzelwerk.net/2018/05/12/einkochen-einmachen-mythen
Ich kann die Rezepte und Kombinationen nur empfehlen! Da ich alle probieren durfte und beim Pflücken dabei war, freu ich mich schon aufs nächste Glas selbstgekochte Marmelade <3
PS: Das ist so schön geschrieben 🙂