Proper Summer Fruit Jam - reduced sugar version.
Proper Summer Fruit Jam
who can say no to summer fruit jam spread over warm toast?
This jam doesn’t need an introduction - just try spoonful’s of it on your toast and because it’s reduced sugar it isn’t too bad for you either.
You will need:
1kg summer fruits - raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, and blueberries (do add blueberries you will love the flavour) all washed and hulled etc.
500g regular granulated sugar (there is no need for expensive preserving sugar)
1 apple - grated, or really finely chopped (you want it for the pectin, you won’t know its there)
juice of 1 lemon
Traditionally jams are equal quantities of fruit to sugar, but this recipe is wholly my own and with lots of tweaking over the years has become a real success story as it uses only 50% of the recommended sugar. You get a lovely fruity bite and will not want shop bought bright fake jam again. Ever!
Because we are leaving out half the sugar and we aren’t paying over the top for preserving sugar, we need the pectin from both an apple and a lemon.
The Method:
Place your clean fruit in a large saucepan - stainless steel is best, and place on the heat. Add the lemon juice, sugar and grated apple (choose a good quality eating apple for its sweetness). Stir well and bring to the boil. Keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved to avoid burning. When the fruit is bubbling reduce the heat to a simmer and keep the jam simmering for about an hour, stir occasionally, and keep your eye on it, don’t let it catch on the bottom, so don’t overheat. A scum with form, just scoop that out using a ladle or metal spoon. Once all your fruit is looking softened you can use a potato masher to gently mash up or break up any of the harder or larger pieces of fruit. Blackcurrants and redcurrants obviously take longer to cook than the softer fruits. You may need to cook longer if your fruit isn’t looking soft enough.
Once you are satisfied with the texture of the fruit you need to increase the heat a little to get a good simmer going. Don’t leave your jam now, stir often, and don’t let it catch on the bottom of the pan. Keeping it cooking long enough for it to reduce and thicken. At this point put your clean jam jars or kilner jars into an oven set to 160 degrees C and warm through for 20 minutes. This sterilises the jars. I’ve seen folk just run boiling water from a kettle over their jars, but this is not enough. You need a good 15 to 20 minutes to sterilise and if you want to store your jam for longer than 2 weeks you will not want to miss this step. Remove from the oven and place a tea towel over the top of them to keep them clean.
The next step is all about judgment and your taste. When the jam is thickened up and significantly reduced you can do the ‘teaspoon test’ to see if it will set. Take a teaspoon of the jam and place it on a cold plate. Wait a minute of two for the jam to cool or place in the fridge. Take your teaspoon and ‘push’ the jam on the plate. If it is ready it will ‘wrinkle’ a little. Keep cooking until you get that wrinkle - that means it will set. Keep testing every ten minutes.
Once you are happy with the thickness of the jam, decant into your warm jars. Keep them covered but don’t seal the lids until the jam is completely cool. When cool close up the jars and store for up to six months. Once opened store in the fridge.