Local Peaches and Raspberries
August 10, 2010 06:06 PM Filed in: RECIPES
This Thursday we are getting NJ peaches and raspberries!! Here's an easy home-made jam recipe. Think--delicious jam on your english muffin this January, after you've been out there shoveling snow. -kp
Sunshine Jam
I’ve been making jam this way since I found this recipe in a now-defunct magazine called Kitchen Garden back in 1996. You use solar power to get it started!
For 4 cups of jam:
8 cups of fruit
4 cups of sugar
1 lemon, halved
Use fresh fruit if possible, not fruit that’s been picked half-ripe and spent lots of time in refrigeration. If using berries, pick over to remove debris. Otherwise, just wash & slice your fruit, measure into a large bowl, and add ½ cup sugar for each cup of fruit. Add cut lemon, and cover with plastic wrap; set out into the sun for 5 or 6 hours (I’ve left it out much longer). At the end of the sunbath, you have a warm mixture you can put directly on the stovetop at high heat. (24 hours in the refrigerator will give you similar results, except the cold mixture will require more time on the stovetop.)
Cook in a large pot. Stainless steel, copper, or enameled cast iron are good; avoid aluminum or iron pots.
Never fill your pot more than halfway; at a rolling boil, the mixture can increase dramatically in volume.
Cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam. Cooking time depends on water content of fruit, and how thick you like your jam. Jam will thicken as it cools, so take care not to cook it until it’s thick while hot.
I usually keep a few spoons in the freezer, and test jam for doneness by dropping some on a chilled spoon. As the sample cools, it thickens and I know whether or not it needs a little more time.
The jam will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator, or you can process it in a hot water bath if you want to store it for a longer time.
Sunshine Jam
I’ve been making jam this way since I found this recipe in a now-defunct magazine called Kitchen Garden back in 1996. You use solar power to get it started!
For 4 cups of jam:
8 cups of fruit
4 cups of sugar
1 lemon, halved
Use fresh fruit if possible, not fruit that’s been picked half-ripe and spent lots of time in refrigeration. If using berries, pick over to remove debris. Otherwise, just wash & slice your fruit, measure into a large bowl, and add ½ cup sugar for each cup of fruit. Add cut lemon, and cover with plastic wrap; set out into the sun for 5 or 6 hours (I’ve left it out much longer). At the end of the sunbath, you have a warm mixture you can put directly on the stovetop at high heat. (24 hours in the refrigerator will give you similar results, except the cold mixture will require more time on the stovetop.)
Cook in a large pot. Stainless steel, copper, or enameled cast iron are good; avoid aluminum or iron pots.
Never fill your pot more than halfway; at a rolling boil, the mixture can increase dramatically in volume.
Cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam. Cooking time depends on water content of fruit, and how thick you like your jam. Jam will thicken as it cools, so take care not to cook it until it’s thick while hot.
I usually keep a few spoons in the freezer, and test jam for doneness by dropping some on a chilled spoon. As the sample cools, it thickens and I know whether or not it needs a little more time.
The jam will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator, or you can process it in a hot water bath if you want to store it for a longer time.
