I know this is supposed to be a blog about writing, but what can you do when someone asks you how you make your Yummy Plum Jam!
So here it is:
Plum Jam!!
Ingredients:
900g/2lb of ripe wild plums
900g/2lb of white granulated sugar
½ pint/275ml of water
Method:
- Wash the plums and discard any damaged fruit.
- Put the plums and water into a large heavy bottomed saucepan (or preserving pan) and simmer gently until the skins split and they are soft.
- Meanwhile, warm the sugar in a low oven for ten minutes and add to the fruit.
- Stir gently over a low heat until you are sure that all the sugar crystals have dissolved.
- Turn up the heat to highest setting, stir frequently, let the fruit boil rapidly for 8-10mins
- Remove the stones with a slotted spoon during the boiling process.
- Test for set (What is set/ setting point? See tricks and tips below).
- If the jam has not set, continue to boil rapidly and test at five-minute intervals.
- When jam has set carefully pour into warm, sterilised jars, using a ladle or small jug.
- Cover jars with tight fitting screw-top lids, or waxed disks and cellophane pot covers (waxed disks, wax facing upwards and plastic covers secured with plastic bands).
- Label when cold and store in a cool, dark place, away from damp.
Jam “set” or “setting point”:
Before you start to make the jam, put a couple of plates in the fridge so that the warm jam can be drizzled onto a cold plate
Return the plate to the fridge to cool for approx two minutes. It has set when you run your finger through it and leave a crinkly track mark.
If after two minutes the cooled jam is too liquid, continue to boil the jam, testing it every few minutes until you have the right set. The jam is far more delicious if it is slightly runny.
Sterilising the jars:
Just before making the jam, quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven.
Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted/Gas Mark 2.
When the oven has reached the right temperature turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while.
Boil lids for five minutes in water to sterilise them.