Raspberry Jam
My newly planted garden is one year old and contains a multitude of plants. I am incredibly impatient and cannot wait to fill the baskets with raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, gooseberries, mulberries, rowan berries and many more. As the bushes and trees are young they will only fruit sparingly this year so I visited the local PYO Cammas Hall Fruit Farm. This was truly inspirational as I was amazed by different fruits that were available.
I went armed with wellington boots and a few empty baskets. I got carried away in the rows of raspberries and was spoiled for choice with all the mouth watering varieties on offer. At first I thought, a raspberry is a raspberry, who cares what it’s called. But oh boy was I in for one pleasant surprise! I started by tasting the raspberries one variety after another. I could taste the difference, almost like a wine connoisseur tasting wine. There and then I made my decision on which raspberry I would like to to pick for my jam.
I have chosen Glen Prosen,which has elongated large fruits and looks like giant bumble bees hanging on the raspberry cane, quite extraordinary. I loved the highly perfumed fragrance and the long lasting taste. As I squished it between my fingers I realised that there was not a lot of free flowing juice but it’s quite a fleshy raspberry.
After an hour and with a basket brimming to the rim it was time to head home.
But as I was overwhelmed by the number of the varieties, my brain started ticking and my imagination switched to overdrive, my thoughts were that one can make different raspberry jams with all the various varieties and call them all wonderful names…. on and on I japed, Ross yawns ‘yeah well’…however we ended up going back to Cammas for strawberries to make the most exquisite strawberry and redcurrant jam….
600g fresh raspberries- 600g caster sugar
Gently wash the raspberries, drain in a colander for 10 minutes.
Place the raspberries and sugar in an airtight container, cover and refrigerate over night. The raspberries would have started to bleed and the sugar to dissolve.
Scrape the raspberries and sugar in to a heavy base saucepan, place over medium heat. Gently melt the un-dissolved sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved turn the heat up and bring to a vigorous boil.
Wash the edges of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in hot water; this will prevent the jam from crystallising. Do not stir the jam while it is boiling, this will encourage crystallisation.
Boil the jam for about 10 -12 minutes, temperature 104°C – 107°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 and follow the few rules outlined above.
When you reach the correct temperature 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 2 large jars of 450g each or 4 smaller jars about 225g each
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 simply preventable reasons why crystallisation could happen.
- One is if the sugar and fruit start to boil before all the “raw” sugar crystals have dissolved.
- Two is once the sugar has dissolved and the jam 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 in to the boiling syrup,the larger un-dissolved crystals accumulate molecules and this encourages the growth of large crystals know as crystallisation.
- Third is that you should never stir boiling jam or sugar syrup for that matter. If you do stir the boiling syrup it knocks the sugar crystals together and encourages the formation of larger crystals and crystallisation sets in once cooled.
Sterilising the jars: This is one of the most crucial tasks that 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 pointers 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 always add the juice of half a lime per 500g of raspberries ( or thereabouts…precision not really needed) …you can’t really taste the lime but it heightens the raspberry flavour and the jam keeps a very vivid magenta colour even when cold.
Hi Dorothy,
I have never tried it however thinking about it I think the quantities should make no difference. I would defrost the raspberries and weigh them once defrosted and follow the recipe as per normal.
Happy Cooking
Madalene