Ingredients
1Kg of fruit cut in halves
4 cups of water
4 cups of sugar
zest of one lemon
juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 teaspoon of salt
Method
To sterilise jars, wash them in soapy water, rinse and drain and then place them in a cold oven set to 110degC. When that temperature is reached, turn off the oven and leave the jars for 10 minutes. Make your jam at the same time so that you are ladling hot jam into hot jars.
Wash the fruit and cut it up.
Simmer the fruit in some water for 40 minutes.
Strain to remove the skin and seeds. The liquid may look quite grey and unappealing but the moment you add sugar it will turn to a clear, golden jam.
Add the rest of the ingredients and raise the heat to medium until the sugar dissolves, and then boil the mix for about 25-30 minutes until it thickens or reaches what is called the ‘setting point when the fruit turns to jam.
Test whether the setting point has been reached by dropping a teaspoon of the mix on a saucer that has had 15 minutes in the freezer. After 5 minutes on the plate, draw a spoon through it and it should wrinkle. If not, boil it a bit more and test again.
Author
Robin Gale-Baker
MacLeod