STOP! It's Jammer Time! 🍑
Are you tired of my puns yet?
I grew up with a Mom and Grandma who canned jams, jellies, fruit butters (and some savory things too. I love my Mom's salsa but sorry Grandma, I don't think I'll ever have an appetite for pickled beets.) I helped my Mom make and can big batches of jams when I was younger and have since done this on my own. Not all of my jams have been a success, shocking to you dear reader that not all my cooking adventures have been a great success, but I like to try nevertheless.
A few weeks ago I wasn't eating the apricots I bought quick enough I decided to make a quick jam with the ones that where left. I took the 4 (maybe 5? I don't recall exactly), roughly chopped them up with the skins on and added them to a pot of half a cup of sugar and about a quarter cup of water. I mix in chopped candied ginger and waited for it to boil.
With jam you want to reduce the moisture, natural or water that has been added, to have a thick, syrupy, sweet concoction. There's a few ways to tell if the jam is ready, one- when you scoop it up with a spoon and pour it back in the pan the mixture will make a V shape and hang off the spoon; two- on a frozen/chilled plate the jam will hold it's shape and not spread when a spoon is dragged through the blob.
Did I mention this is a fridge jam? Meaning I wasn't sealing the jar and having the jam be shelf stable. I know I mentioned this also with my pickles. Are you interested in canning/sealing jars? I could talk about that too. I poured the jam into an empty jar (I hoard jars for just this purpose) and let cool on the counter.
Making jam like this, aka on the fly, is a chance to try new flavors and use up super ripe/nearly turned bad fruit. Try it and if you're not in love with what you make, add it to a cake, roll it up in pastry or toss it out.
❤️ & 🍑 ,
Amy