Plum Jam

Makes about 4.5kg

Ingredients:

2.7kg plums
2.7kg sugar
A knob of butter

Method:

Put the plums in a preserving pan with 900ml of water and gently simmer for about 30 minutes, until the fruit is very soft and the contents of the pan are well reduced.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add the butter and blend well into the mixture. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the setting point is reached.
Take the pan off the heat. Using a slotted spoon, skim off any scum from the surface of the jam and remove the plum stones. Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

Cooks Tips

If dessert plums are used, rather than the cooking variety, add the juice of 1 large lemon.
This jam can also be made with peaches, but the stones should be removed before putting in the pot and the juice of 2 lemons should be added.
For a more savoury variation on this jam, add 5ml crushed chillies. This jam is great added to sauces for pork and chicken.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam

Makes about 1.6kg

Ingredients:

900g green gooseberries, topped and tailed
900g granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
300ml elderflower cordial

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the gooseberries in a preserving pan with 150ml water, then cook over a low heat until the gooseberries are very soft. Meanwhile, put the sugar in a large roasting pan and warm in the oven for 10 minutes.
Add the lemon juice, elderflower cordial and warmed sugar to the gooseberries, bring to the boil and simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bubble for 25-30 minutes or until the jam is set. Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

Apricot Jam

Makes about 3kg

Ingredients:

1.8kg apricots, halved and stoned, stones reserved
Juice of 1 lemon
1.8kg sugar
A knob of butter

Method:

Crack a few of the apricot stones with a nut cracker, take out the kernels and blanch them in boiling water for 1 minutes, then drain.
Put the apricots, lemon juice, apricot kernels and about 450ml of water in a preserving pan and simmer for about 15 minutes or until well reduced and the fruit is soft.
Off the heat, add the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Add the butter and boil rapidly for 15 minutes or until the setting point is reached.
Remove any scum with a slotted spoon. Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

Strawberry and Redcurrant Jam

Makes about 1.4kg

Ingredients:
700g granulated or preserving sugar
1kg strawberries, hulled and halved if large
225g redcurrants, stripped from their stalks
Juice of 1 lemon

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the sugar in a roasting tin and warm in the oven for 10 minutes. Put half the strawberries and all the redcurrants in a preserving pan over a low heat and cook until soft and the juices run.
Add the remaining strawberries to the pan and bring to the boil. Add the lemon juice and warmed sugar to the pan, bring to the boil, then simmer until the sugar dissolves. Bubble for 25 minutes or until set.
Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

Raspberry and Cinnamon Jam

Makes about 1kg

Ingredients:
900g granulated or preserving sugar
900g raspberries
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick, crushed and tied in muslin

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the sugar in a roasting tin and warm in the oven for 10 minutes. Put the raspberries in a preserving pan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until the juices run. Add the warmed sugar, lemon juice and the cinnamon stick.
Bring to the boil, then simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Bubble for 15 minutes or until set, then remove the cinnamon stick.
Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

Making Jam and Preserves

The end of summer, when there is lots of fruit around, is a great time to make jam and preserves. Here are a few things you should know about making jams.

Tips

• Before you start, put four saucers in the fridge or freezer to chill ready to repeat testing for setting as needed.


• A large preserving pan with a wide top id essential for its size and shape – it helps the evaporation process, ensuring the finished preserve is not too runny. Stainless steel or non-stick pans are best.


• Preserving sugar is a superior quality course grain sugar that gives a clear set ideal for jellied preserves, but it’s not essential for marmalade and jam and it’s much more expensive than granulated sugar.


• Jam sugar is not the same as preserving sugar – it’s a granulated sugar with added pectin and citric acid to aid the setting of fruits that have a naturally low pectin content such as strawberries and cherries.
  

Setting Agents

• Preserving sugar produces less scum, dissolves easily and produces sparkling jellies and lams. Jam sugar is used for fruits with low pectin and acid level.


• Pectin makes preserves set when fruit is heated with sugar. However, many summer fruits are low in pectin, so if your jam or marmalade is not setting, add extra lemon juice – a good natural source of pectin. Alternatively, use an artificial pectin – add one sachet per 1 kg of granulated sugar.
  

Setting Point

When jam reaches setting point it’s ready to bottle. Test regularly for a set. If the preserve is boiled for too long it darkens and caramelises. There are two good ways of testing this stage:

• Spoon a little jam or marmalade on to a chilled plate, then chill for a minute or two. If it crinkles when you run your finger through it from the edge, setting point has been reached.


• Take the guess work out of getting the perfect set by using a jam thermometer. Generally speaking, the setting point will be around 105°C.
  

Bottling Tips

• Before use, wash jars in hot water, drain, then leave to dry in a warm oven (150°C). Boil the lids. Alternatively, a fast wash in the dish washer is ideal.


• Always pour hot preserves into warm jars.


• Always fill to the rim to allow for shrinkage on cooling.


• Cover with waxed discs, waxed side down, and dampened cellophane covers, dampened side up.


• For longer-term storage, cover the screw-on lids, too.


• For best results, store preserves in a cool dark place.
  

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Strawberry Jam

When thinking of strawberries, you are bound to think of strawberry jam. No country larder would be complete without it - come to think of it; no city larder worth speaking of would not have this wonderful preserve in it either. Everybody loves strawberry jam!

Sweet preserves or jams are common and traditional all over Europe. Before sugar became more readily available, in the 18th century, honey would have been used to preserve fruits. Normally jams would have been made when there was a glut of fruit so as to make the fruit last, hopefully, until the fruit season came around again. Although there is not this necessity nowadays, I still make this delicious preserve when there is a glut of strawberries and the prices are amenable. It's just such fun to make.

Even though strawberry jam is perhaps the most popular jam of all, of all fruits that are used to make preserves, strawberries are the most difficult to turn into jam as they lack the natural pectin vital for a good set. To get this jam to set it is essential to use lemon juice to supply the pectin. Redcurrant juice may also be used, as it is in this recipe - it adds a wonderful flavour over the top of the strawberries making this jam so absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:
1.1 kg strawberries
1.3 kg unrefined granulated sugar
150ml redcurrant juice
juice of 1 lemon
15g unsalted butter

Method:
Put the strawberries into a large heavy bottomed pan and heat gently. As the juice starts to come out of the berries, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the redcurrant juice and the lemon juice. Bring the mixture to the boil and remove any scum that rises to the surface. Boil rapidly, testing for setting point every 15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat to do this.

To test with a sugar thermometer: dip the thermometer in hot water, then sink the bulb end into the jam. If the temperature is around 105C, the jam has reached setting point.

To test with the saucer test: keep several small saucers in the fridge. When you think the jam has reached setting point, take the pan off the heat and put a teaspoon of jam on a cold saucer. Let it cool for a few seconds - count to ten - then push the surface at the side with your finger. If the surface wrinkles, the jam is ready, but if the jam moves loosely, it needs to be boiled for a few minutes more and tested again.

When setting point has been reached, add the butter. Allow the jam to cool slightly. Give the jam a stir to evenly distribute the fruit before putting into prepared sterilised jars. Seal and store in your larder for at least 3-4 days before using.

Easy Jam Biscuits

These delightful little biscuits go down a treat, wonderful for afternoon tea or kiddies parties. But it won't be long before you are making more as they don't last very long ---

everybody loves them.

Ingredients:
80g butter at room temperature
80ml caster sugar
30ml milk
2ml vanilla extract
250ml flour
5ml baking powder
80ml custard powder
strawberry jam

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the custard powder and flour a little at a time, folding in until all is blended together with the butter mixture and you have a soft dough.

Taking a heaped tablespoonful of dough, roll it into a little ball and place it on a baking sheet. Press the end of a wooden spoon into the center of each to make a small indentation, making sure it does not go all the way through the dough. Fill the indentation with strawberry jam. Repeat the process until all the dough is used up. Make sure there is enough space between each dough-ball for it to spread.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Monmouth Pudding

Pwdin Mynwy – a traditional Welsh dessert, which is similar to ‘Queen of Puddings’. From the name of this dessert you can surmise that it originated in Monmouthshire – and you would be absolutely right!

Ingredients:

For the pudding:
90g fresh breadcrumbs
30ml soft light brown sugar
450ml whole milk
1 lemon, zest only
30ml caster sugar
25g salted butter
3 large egg yolks

For the topping:
175g raspberry jam
150g fresh raspberries
75g caster sugar
3 large egg whites, whisked until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed

Method:

For the pudding, preheat the grill to a medium setting.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and brown sugar into a roasting tray. Shake the tray to mix the two together, then grill until the breadcrumbs are lightly toasted and the sugar has started to melt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Heat the milk, lemon zest, sugar and butter in a pan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly, until the butter has melted and the mixture is well combined, then stir the toasted breadcrumbs and sugar into the milk mixture and set aside, off the heat, for 30 minutes.

Once the milk and breadcrumbs mixture has stood for 30 minutes, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until pale and fluffy, then add them to the milk and breadcrumb mixture and whisk gently until well combined.

Pour the pudding mixture into a 8inch ovenproof serving dish and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pudding has risen and is just set. (The pudding has set when a skewer inserted into a middle of the pudding comes out clean.)

Remove the pudding from the oven and increase the temperate to 180C.

For the topping, spread the raspberry jam in an even layer over the pudding. Sprinkle over the raspberries.

In a bowl, add the sugar to the whisked egg whites and continue whisking until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed.

Spoon the meringue over the pudding and return to the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the meringue is golden-brown.

Serve immediately.

Manchester Tart

The Manchester tart is a traditional English baked tart, which consists of a shortcrust pastry shell, spread with raspberry jam, covered with a custard filling and topped with flakes of coconut. The original Manchester Tart is a simple modern version of an earlier recipe, the Manchester Pudding, which was first recorded by the Victorian cookery writer, Mrs Beeton.

Ingredients:

butter, for greasing
500g ready-made shortcrust pastry
Plain flour, for dusting
200g raspberry jam
15ml desiccated coconut
300g fresh raspberries
500ml full-fat milk
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out with a knife
5 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
30ml cornflour
10ml icing sugar, for dusting
400ml double cream, whipped until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed
50ml desiccated coconut, toasted in a dry frying pan until golden-brown, to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease a 10in tart pan with butter.

Roll out the shortcrust pastry onto a lightly floured work surface to a ¼in thickness. Line the prepared tart pan with the pastry. Prick the pastry several times with a fork, then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

When the pastry case has rested, place a sheet of baking parchment into it and half-fill with baking beans. Transfer the pastry case to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.

Remove the baking parchment and baking beans and return the pastry case to the oven for a further 4-5 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.

Spread the raspberry jam onto the pastry base in an even layer. Sprinkle over the three tablespoons of non-toasted desiccated coconut and half of the fresh raspberries. Set the pastry base aside.

Bring the milk, vanilla pod and vanilla seeds to the boil in a pan, then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Remove the vanilla pod (put it in a jar of sugar to give ‘vanilla sugar’).

In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until well combined.

Pour the hot milk and vanilla mixture over the egg and sugar mixture, whisking continuously, until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

Return the mixture to the pan over a medium heat. Whisk in the cornflour, a tablespoon at a time, until well combined. Heat, stirring continuously until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

Transfer the custard mixture to a clean bowl and dust with the icing sugar (this prevents a skin from forming on the surface of the custard). Set aside to cool, then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes when cool enough to go in the fridge.

Whisk the whipped double cream into the chilled custard mixture until well combined.

Spoon the custard and cream mixture into the pastry case in an even layer. Sprinkle over the remaining fresh raspberries.

To serve, sprinkle over the three tablespoons of toasted desiccated coconut and serve immediately.

Chilli Jam

This zesty jam makes a great dip ingredient or fiery accompaniment to finger snacks and creamy cheeses.

.

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic, cloves peeled

6-8 long red chillies, roughly chopped

200g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2-3 kaffir lime leaves, deveined

525g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 4 limes

125ml white wine vinegar

15ml soy sauce

Method:

Sterilise a 500ml pickling jar.

Purée the garlic, chillies, ginger and kaffir lime leaves to a coarse paste.

Place in a saucepan with the sugar, lime zest, vinegar, soy sauce and 125ml of water.

Stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then boil for about 10 minutes or until reduced by a third. It will bubble up like jam.

Spoon the hot chilli jam into the warm sterilised jar until it is filled to within 3mm of the top. Seal with the screw cap. Once opened, store the chilli jam in the fridge, where it will keep for months.

Cranberry Preserve

This preserve is great served with turkey,

gammon or lamb

or spread as jam on scones, pancakes

or sweet breads.

.

Ingredients:
500g cranberries, fresh or frozen
340ml sugar
250ml water
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped in fine dice
zest and of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
125ml chopped walnuts
125ml raisins

.

Method:
Put the cranberries, sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the berries pop.
Add the apple, orange zest and juice, lemon zest and juice and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Ad the walnuts and raisins and mix into the cranberry mixture. Cook a further 5 minutes.
Store in sterilised jars until required.

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