Greengage Jam
Roy called this week saying that Dennis’s greengages and damsons were ready to be picked. We had finished our chores so we wasted no more time and we departed post haste on Saturday afternoon. After a spot of lunch, we set of with Duke the dog, long clippers, wellington boots, a trug, two baskets, a paint bucket, £1 coin and a empty egg carton and a walking stick. We all laughed at this scene as it did look fairly bizarre. Well you soon learn after a few such journeys visiting the hedgerows and Dennis’s place that you require all these tools to manage to get to the fruits.
It was a lovely afternoon and a very successful one too. We walked away with a a trug filled with elderberries, a wire basked filled with damsons, a basked of greengages and a paint pot full of blackberries. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon!
The £1 coin and egg box was for the eggs that we got from Kim along with her lemon drizzle cake recipe. We were excited as we finally met Lee, Thistle, Mr.Punch and Priscilla, Kim’s chickens.
Later that evening we sat in the garden preparing the fruits, Mr.P picked the elderberries and I cut the greengages and together we stoned the damsons. By the time we looked at the clock which said it was 10:30 pm, we were both bleary eyed and had enough.
I was pleased with our Saturday’s harvest and hard work as we had managed to produce 4 jars of greengage jam and made loads of yummy recipes with the rest.
The greengage jam was used for little old fashioned jam tarts and off course Roy and Linda will get a jar of jam as well.
- 1kg greengages
- 800g caster sugar
- 100ml cold water
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Wash the greengages, cut in 1/4's and remove the stones.
Place the greengages, water and sugar into a heavy base saucepan and leave overnight to encourage the sugar to dissolve.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and gently melt the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved turn the heat up and bring to the boil. I do not cook this particular jam over high heat as I found that it will catch much faster than the berry jams that I have cooked in the past. I also recommend that you give it a slight stir to prevent the fruits at the bottom from burning, now I know this goes against my principles of stirring the jam whilst boiling but I do add the lemon juice at the end which should also help prevent crystallization taking place.
Wash the edges of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in hot water; this will prevent the jam from crystallising.
Boil the jam for about 10 -12 minutes, temperature 106°C; this is the ideal setting point for the jam.
I do not use pectin or pectin rich sugar and for that reason it is crucial to measure the temperature.
When the correct temperature is reached add the lemon juice and remove the jam from the heat.
Have your jam jars ready, cleaned and sterilised, as it is important to decant the hot jam as soon as possible.
Place a small cartouche of parchment paper directly on to the hot jam and close the jar immediately whilst the jam is hot.
Make sure your hands are clean or wear disposable gloves.
Cool the jam jars, clean and label them.
Makes 4 340g jars of greengage jam
Food Fanatics Tips
Crystallisation of Jam: It’s pretty annoying when this happens. Normally it’s only visual once the jam has cooled down completely. I have three simple preventable reasons why crystallisation could happen.
- - if the sugar and fruit start to boil before all the “raw” sugar crystals have dissolved.
- - once the sugar has dissolved and the jam has reached the vigorous boiling stage you did not wash the edges with a pastry brush dipped in hot water. As the “raw” sugar crystals get stuck to the edge of the pan and falls back into the boiling syrup,the larger un-dissolved crystals accumulate molecules and this encourages the growth of large crystals know as crystallisation.
Sterilising the jars: This is one of the most crucial tasks and you should never cut corners If you not do this properly you might find your jam becomes mouldy and ferments sooner than expected.Preheat the oven to 100°C. Wash the jars in hot soapy water; do not dry them with a tea towel. Place the damp jars and lids on a clean baking tray; try not to touch the jars and lids on the insides. Place them in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Let the jars cool slightly before you scoop in the jam.
Other points are:
- Never pour cold liquid in to hot glass jars, you will end up with broken glass.
- Take extra care when sterilising the jars, as if they are overheated they might explode.
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I have a young green gage plum planted, one that should share up enough plum next year to make this enticing jam. Thank you.
By the way, do you ever make jam with Victoria plums?
Hi Tom,
Yes I have cooked a Victoria Plum Jam this week, it delicious. Use the exactly same recipe, substitute the greengages for the Victoria Plums.
Happy Cooking
Madalene
I am a recent recipient of your blog and love it!! How do you find the time to do a full time job as well as all your home cooking, writing and photography? I am very impressed.
I am also a fanatical cook and preserver and sell hundreds of pounds worth for charity each year. I would be interested to hear what you did with the elderberries as I have never used them and would love to have a go.
Keep up the good work!
Sue
This looks lovely. I’m on a red currant jelly making binge this weekend and about to make jam out of the last strawberries