My first jam: apple and berries

So, this is the very first time I have made a jam on my own. Well, the only reason I decided to make it is becasue I had some fruits, apples and berries in particular, that needed eating and I wasn't sure how I could finish them all before they went bad.

Well I looked up some recipes and came across this one and this one that gave very simple recipes as well as some good tips on how to store them. Anyway, here is what I did:

Recipe:

1. 2 apples
2. A large bowl (300g) of strawberries and blueberries
3. 100g sugar (more if you like)

Procedure: 

Step 1: chop up the apples into small pieces and throw them all into a saucepan with a splash of water (2 tablespoon should be enough). Cook in medium heat with the lead on for 10-15minutes till tender.

Step 2:  I gently mashed them in the saucepan as they continued to simmer. Now once the apples seem soft and mushy, add the blue berries first and cover again for 5 mimutes. The blue berries will mush up in no time.

Step 3: Now add the strawberries and cook without putting the lid on for 5 more minutes till it will be very tender and blend easily.



Step 4: Finally add sugar and stir it till the sugar completely dissolves. The other recipes suggested to add as much sugar as the weight of the fruits. But the apples and berries concoction was already so sweet that anymore than 100gm would have ruined it for me. Besides, the whole reason to add enough sugar is to prevent it from spoiling as bacterias find it hard to thrive in extreme salt and sugar. But thankfully I have a partner who loves jams so I'm positive the jam won't last too long. Besides, more recipes incorporating the jam coming up ;)


Step 5: By now the stew will start to look more like jelly, with a deep red colouring. However, it needs to reach the "setting point" before you cool and put it in a jam jar. To know when it's done you need to take a spoon full and put it on a chilled bowl, when you drag your finger over it, it must wrinkle or else you need to boil it further more till it wrinkles under your finger in a chilled bowl. 

Now, enjoy it on toast or with some warm crispy croissants!




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