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Making preserves is a great way of using up any overripe fruit you’ve got lying around🤩! If you’re going to purchase fruit just to make them, though, the cost might (admittedly) exceed that of the store-bought stuff by a lil’ bit - BUT you’ll get to come up with flavour combinations that you won’t find on any store shelf🥳!
Note that the three recipes below are ordered in decreasing levels of complexity, so choose what you are going to attempt wisely!
Click here for instructions on how to sterilise your jars for storage. (we should mention, though, that if you’ve washed your jars/containers thoroughly, there’s probably no remaining bacteria that could survive the heat of your final product when you ladle it in anyway....but we’re just looking out for all you pedantic clean freaks out there😉!)
~Jam~
500g fruit flesh (that means no pits or skins!)
200g fine sugar
4g citrus zest
10g citrus juice
60g wine of your choice (optional)
Yield: approx. 400g (after evaporation)
1) Mix fruit and sugar and leave to macerate at room temperature for 1-2h or in the chiller overnight. (make sure that the fruit is in small pieces; blueberries, raspberries and such can be left as is but the likes of apples and peaches ought to be diced to approx. 2cm x 2cm x 2cm pieces)
2) Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, till the mixture reaches 104°C or passes the plate test. (this should take 15-20min given the size of the recipe)
3) Strain mixture, ladle into jar/container, leave to cool at room temperature and chill for at least 4h.
Recommendations and FAQs
🔪If you want to minimise your dishwashing load:
=> measure fruit and sugar in the pot that you will later use for simmering
=> measure zest, juice and wine in the same bowl
=> remember to tare/zero your scale before measuring out each new ingredient!
🔪Remember that you can use any combination of fruits you like to make up the 500g! (do note that your choices here will affect the consistency of the final product: fruits high in pectin - such as apples, plums and berries - will yield a firmer jam)
🔪You could opt to use frozen fruit if you’re on a tight budget or just lazy to separate the good fruit from the bad, pick stems, fish for seeds, or peel skins😅. We recommend Berry Field if you are making a berry jam.
🔪As stipulated above, the wine is optional. If you decide to include it, however, we recommend using reds if you are using berries as your base and whites if you are going for tropical/stone fruits. (you don’t need anything fancy - a simple and affordable Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc would do😉!)
🔪Be very cautious when performing step 2⚠️. Not only does the mixture have to exceed 100°C, it includes sugar, which can eat into your skin/flesh when it is hot⚠️! Keep small children and pets away from your kitchen, be gentle when stirring the mixture, and do not keep the mixture at a rapid boil - a low simmer would do (you wouldn’t want any splattering⚠️).
🔪If your fruit does not seem to be breaking down enough during the cooking process in step 2, you could help it along by mashing up the pieces.
🔪What on earth do you mean by ‘macerate’? It simply means leaving your fruit to rest after tossing it in the sugar. If you are wondering what the point of this is, this short answer should suffice: it improves the flavour of your fruit. Click here for more if you desire a longer explanation.
🔪Why must the mixture be brought to such a high temperature? We can’t possibly do the science of sugar stages justice with a simple explanatory blurb so click here if you are interested to learn more. What is of direct relevance to preserves is that by heating it to a temperature just before the thread stage, your mixture will set to just the right consistency. Also, the pectin within your fruit will only activate its gelling powers when heated to such high temperatures (the concentration of sugar remaining in the mixture will also affect the firmness at which the final product is set - 104°C is the sweet spot in this case🤗).
🔪What if I don’t own a kitchen thermometer? Well, we do recommend that you get one. It doesn’t have to be a candy thermometer (that has very limited functions). A meat thermometer would work just fine and prove to be a gem when you are roasting, deep frying and baking too🥳! If you still find it an unnecessary investment, however, opt for the plate test, which we mentioned as a second way of checking if your jam is ready.
🔪What on earth is the plate test? Before you start the cooking process, leave a ceramic plate in your freezer. Once your mixture comes to a boil, wait for 5min before putting a spoonful of hot jam onto the plate (☝️remember to take the pot off the heat during the test). If the jam on the plate wrinkles when you slide your finger through it, stop the cooking process immediately. If not, simmer the mixture for another 5min before testing again (repeating this as many times as needed; ☝️remember to wipe the plate and return it to the freezer when simmering again). We should stress that this method isn’t as accurate as using a kitchen thermometer (you won’t really be able to tell if your mixture is overcooked; exceeding 104°C will yield you a final product that’s firmer than it should be😕).
🔪Must I really strain the final product at step 3? Of course not. Just leave it as is if you like seeds and small chunks of fruit in your jam.
~Citrus Marmalade~
30-40g citrus peel (in thin strips; having a bit of the pith is fine)
300g citrus juice
120g water
400g fine sugar
Yield: approx. 450g (after evaporation)
1) Add peel to a pot of water (not the 120g above!) and simmer for 45min-1h.
2) Strain the peel and leave to cool for 10min.
3) Chop peel into small chunks/strips (whatever you fancy) and return to the pot along with the remaining ingredients.
4) Bring mixture to a boil and simmer till it reaches 107°C. (this should take 25-30min given the size of the recipe)
5) Ladle mixture into jar/container, leave to cool at room temperature and chill for at least 4h.
Recommendations and FAQs
🔪If you want to minimise your dishwashing load:
=> measure juice, water and sugar in the same bowl
=> remember to tare/zero your scale before measuring out each new ingredient!
🔪For a visual example of what we mean by thin strips of peel and how to achieve that, click here. Look at 0:25 and 0:40 to see how it can be done with a knife and a peeler, respectively. Note: (1) the more peel you include in the recipe, the stiffer your final product will be and (2) having more of the pith taken along with the peel will also lead to a stiffer final product on top of it being more bitter. (the peel and pith are where most of the pectin - the gelling agent for preserves - in citrus fruit is stored😮)
🔪Remember that you can use any combination of citrus juices you like to make up the 300g!
🔪Be very cautious when performing step 4⚠️. Not only does the mixture have to exceed 100°C, it includes sugar, which can eat into your skin/flesh when it is hot⚠️! Keep small children and pets away from your kitchen, be gentle when stirring the mixture, and do not keep the mixture at a rapid boil - a low simmer would do (you wouldn’t want any splattering⚠️).
🔪Why must the mixture be brought to such a high temperature? We can’t possibly do the science of sugar stages justice with a simple explanatory blurb so click here if you are interested to learn more. What is of direct relevance to preserves is that by heating it to a temperature just before the thread stage, your mixture will set to just the right consistency. Also, the pectin within your fruit will only activate its gelling powers when heated to such high temperatures (the concentration of sugar remaining in the mixture will also affect the firmness at which the final product is set - 107°C is the sweet spot in this case🤗).
🔪What if I don’t own a kitchen thermometer? Well, we do recommend that you get one. It doesn’t have to be a candy thermometer (that has very limited functions). A meat thermometer would work just fine and prove to be a gem when you are roasting, deep frying and baking too🥳! If you still find it an unnecessary investment, however, opt for the plate test, which we mentioned as a second way of checking if your marmalade is ready.
🔪What on earth is the plate test? Before you start the cooking process, leave a ceramic plate in your freezer. Once your mixture comes to a boil, wait for 5min before putting a spoonful of hot marmalade onto the plate (☝️remember to take the pot off the heat during the test). If the marmalade on the plate wrinkles when you slide your finger through it, stop the cooking process immediately. If not, simmer the mixture for another 5min before testing again (repeating this as many times as needed; ☝️remember to wipe the plate and return it to the freezer when simmering again). We should stress that this method isn’t as accurate as using a kitchen thermometer (you won’t really be able to tell if your mixture is overcooked; exceeding 107°C will yield you a final product that’s firmer than it should be😕).
~Berry Compote~
450g berries (frozen)
50g water
50g fine sugar
8g cornstarch
Yield: approx. 400g (after evaporation)
1) Gently heat all of your ingredients together till the berries thaw and release their juices.
2) Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for 10min.
3) Mash the berries until you are satisfied with the mixture’s consistency.
4) Boil mixture for another 5-8min.
5) Serve mixture warm or ladle into jar/container, leave to cool at room temperature and chill for at least 4h.
Recommendations and FAQs
🔪If you want to minimise your dishwashing load:
=> measure all your ingredients in the pot that will be used for simmering
=> remember to tare/zero your scale before measuring out each new ingredient!
🔪Remember that you can use any combination of berries you like to make up the 450g!
🔪If you are looking for good-quality frozen berries that ain’t too pricey, go for Berry Field.
🔪Can I use fresh berries instead? Of course you can. You’ll just have more prep work to do. ☝️You should also add an additional 50g of water to the recipe - frozen berries tend to release a lot more juice than fresh ones.
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