I have made many jars of jam over the years and I used to sell it in my cafe. It's a great way to use up excess fruit you may have in your garden or in the freezer. It will keep in sterilised jars for a year so you can eat it all year round.
This week I bought some lovely pink rhubarb, so I decided to make it into jam so that I could use it in my baking and on homemade rhubarb scones.
You can also use the jam in my rhubarb frangipani or rhubarb and Ginger frangipani recipes. It's also good in my rhubarb and custard cake! It has so many uses and means you can have some delicious rhubarb in your baking out of season.
I bought two packets that were 400g each from my local supermarket and this made me 4 jars. If you have more or less fruit then just adjust the sugar. You need the same amount of fruit to sugar.
I didn’t want a really set jam as I want to use it in things like frangipani tarts. So I just boiled until it slightly thickened as this will be perfect for my baking recipes.
Firstly cut the rhubarb up into 2cm chunks. Put it into a large pan or jam pan if you have one. Add the same weight in sugar and dissolve the sugar on a low heat stirring all the time so the sugar doesn’t burn.
Put the jam jars in the oven at 140 degrees centigrade (120 fan) faced down on a baking tray.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved turn the heat up and boil until the rhubarb starts to break down and the jam starts to thicken.
If you want a proper set then put some saucers in the freezer and take a small amount of jam and put on the plate and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. 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.
Take the jars out of the oven and fill them with the jam and put the lids on tightly.
Rhubarb Jam
Sarah's servings: 4 - 6 jars
Sarah's skill: Medium
Ingredients:
800g Rhubarb
800g Granulated sugar
Method:
Wash the rhubarb and chop it up into 2cm chunks. Put it into a large pan or jam pan if you have one. Add the same weight in sugar and dissolve the sugar on a low heat Stirring all the time so the sugar doesn’t burn.
Put the jam jars in the oven at 140 degrees centigrade (120 fan) faced down on a baking tray.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved turn the heat up and boil until the rhubarb starts to break down and the jam starts to thicken. If you want a proper set then put some saucers in the freezer and take a small amount of jam and put on the plate and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. 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.
Take the jars out of the oven and fill them with the jam and put the lids on tightly.
Leave to cool then label.
Equipment Used
Sarah's Extra slice........
Make sure you keep stirring the jam so that it does not burn.
Using a jam funnel makes filling the jars easier but it is not essential.
If you intend to make a lot of jam I suggest using a jam pan like this one
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.
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