Homemade jam is a delight!
Commercially available jams are sweeter on average, often in a 1:1 ratio so you can make more cheap jams.
I am very fortunate to have grown up in the Austrian countryside. Fresh fruit grew in our garden, such as apples, pears, plums and cherries. The highlight in our garden was an old tree growing marlin! What a treat it was. Marlins are very similar to apricots but have a much more intense flavor, you can tell the difference only when you taste both at the same time.
My mother used to make jam from these fruits. She always used the ones that fell from the tree herself. They were always the best because they were really cooked through and through.
My mom’s marlin jam was and still is bought like gold in the family. A jar of such jam was and is the most popular gift.
I even remember that my late father-in-law loved it so much that he used to eat 1-2 spoons of it every day to fully savor its aroma.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg ripe fruits (strawberries, apricots etc. Raspberries and cherries too but these fruits have natural pectin so they need less gelling agent)
- Juice of one lemon
- 500 grams of sugar
- 1 packet of gelling agent (1 packet per 1 kg)
- Rum to sterilize
Preparation:
Blend fruit in a saucepan with a hand blender to desired consistency, either smooth or with chunks as desired, and heat.
Add the juice of one lemon to the saucepan and mix in the fruit with the gelling agent to bring out the flavor of the fruit.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Be careful not to let it stick to the bottom.
Meanwhile, prepare the jars (I sterilize them in the dishwasher or in hot water for 10 minutes), pour ¾ tsp rum into the lids of each.
Add the sugar to the hot fruit and boil again, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 7 minutes. The longer it boils, the stronger the jam will be, so please don’t leave it too long.
The jam begins to set when foam forms on the surface. Remove the foam from the ladle.
Pour into the prepared jar with a funnel and ladle, clean the rim if necessary and then tip the lid on top with the rim in it and seal well. Turn the jar upside down to make sure all the air is out of the jar.
After about 5 minutes, flip them again and let them cool. In my experience, these jams can keep for up to a year.
Homemade jam is a delight
Tip: you need the sugar to preserve the jam. With the gelling agent 2:1 you only need ½ as much sugar, if you want to use even less sugar you have to freeze the jam, because it is not really durable.
Enjoy your meal!