I have made many jars of jam over the years and I used to sell it in my cafe. I had a lot of different frozen fruits in the freezer so I decided to make it into jam so that I could use it in my baking.
I had a total of 1kg of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries in the freezer but if you have less fruit then just adjust the sugar. You need the same amount of fruit to sugar to fruit though I would not advise making more than 2kg at a time as the setting point is harder to achieve.
You can use any fruit you have for this recipe and it is a good way of using up fruit to keep for use in baking all year round.
Homemade jam is delicious on fresh bread, with clotted cream on scones or in frangipani tarts.
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To start put the jam jars in the oven at 140 degrees centigrade (120 fan) faced down on a baking tray.
Place 2 saucers in the freezer to use later.
Put the fresh or frozen fruit, lemon juice and water into a large pan or jam pan if you have one and on a low heat stir until the fruit starts to go soft. If you push them against the side of the pan they will squash slightly.
Then add the same weight in sugar and dissolve the sugar on a low heat stirring all the time so the sugar doesn’t burn.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved turn the heat up and boil for about 10 minutes until the fruit starts to break down and the jam starts to thicken.
Take one of the saucers from the freezer and take a small amount of jam and put on the saucer and place in the freezer for a minute.
Then rub your finger through the jam and if it wrinkles then it is ready. If it doesn’t then continue to boil and keep testing every 5 minutes until it wrinkles.
Add a knob of butter after setting point is reached as this will reduce any foam on the surface of the jam.
Take the jars out of the oven and fill them with the jam.
Finally put the lids on tightly and leave to cool.
Label and store for up to a year.
Mixed Fruit Jam
Sarah's servings: 9 x 190ml Jars
Sarah's skill: Medium
Ingredients:
1 kg Mixed Fruit (raspberries, strawberries & blueberries)
300 ml Water
2 Lemons (juiced)
1kg Granulated sugar
1 tsp Butter (optional)
Method:
To start put the jam jars in the oven at 140 degrees centigrade (120 fan) faced down on a baking tray.
Place 2 saucers in the freezer to use later.
Put the fresh or frozen fruits, lemon juice and water into a large pan or jam pan if you have one and on a low heat stir until the fruit start to go soft. If you push them against the side of the pan they will squash slightly.
Then add the same weight in sugar and dissolve the sugar on a low heat stirring all the time so the sugar doesn’t burn.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved turn the heat up and boil for about 10 minutes until the fruit starts to break down and the jam starts to thicken.
Take one of the saucers from the freezer and take a small amount of jam and put on the saucer and place in the freezer for a minute.
Then rub your finger through the jam and if it wrinkles then it is ready. If it doesn’t then continue to boil and keep testing every 5 minutes until it wrinkles.
Add a knob of butter after setting point is reached as this will reduce any foam on the surface of the jam.
Take the jars out of the oven and fill them with the jam and put the lids on tightly.
Sarah's Extra slice........
If you have more or less fruit then just adjust the sugar. You need the same amount of fruit to sugar.
I used frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries and fresh strawberries (hulled) for my mixed fruit jam. You can use any fruit you have fresh or frozen in this recipe.
Make sure you keep stirring the jam so that it does not burn.
If you intend to make a lot of jam I suggest using a jam pan like this one
Using a jam funnel makes filling the jars easier but it is not essential.
Add a knob of butter after setting point is reached as this will reduce any foam on the surface of the jam.
The jam will keep for a year in sterilised jars - if you don’t use it before then!!! Jam is a great thing to make if you have excess fruit in your garden as it will keep for a year and you can use it in your baking even when not in season.