Raspberry Jam

After our  foray into "Pick Your Owning" at the weekend, we had far more berries than we could eat between us before they started to rot... so we searched for a recipe to make use of.  Having had a look around, we decided raspberry jam was the best bet for novice preserve makers like us.

The simplest recipes stated equal weights of fruit and sugar.  So, we weighed the remaining raspberries (452g) and matched them with sugar.

A large saucepan was used and we put the raspberries in and placed them over a low heat for a few minutes.  After they were warmed through, the sugar was added to the pan.  The berries and sugar were stirred and heated until all the sugar had been dissolved.

Once this happened, the heat was turned up and the mix was left to bubble vigourously for ten minutes (Sous Chef J commented "it looks a bit like a lava lake".)

Having chilled a plate in the bottom of the fridge during the lava lake phase, a small blob of jam was placed on the plate and pushed gently to see if it rippled.  It didn't.  So, the bubbling boiling continued for another 3 minutes when the blob pushing was repeated.  This time, there was a ripple!

The jam pan was removed from the heat and the scum was skimmed off (using a silicone spoon) and deposited on the push-test-plate.  The, now un-scummy, jam was then poured into a couple of jam jars which were fresh out of the top shelf of dishwasher (which had just finished its wash cycle).  Lids were placed on and the jam was left to cool.

Sous Chef J was impressed by the taste of our first batch of raspberry jam... which he taste tested, carefully, by licking the spoon.  He then prepared some labels for the jars and we left the jam to cool thoroughly.

Who knew making jam was so simple!