Jams are tasty spreads to give a wonderful start to the morning. They are preserves of fruit meat or pulp. The delight of making your favorite jam at home is a sense of accomplishment. Your family will feel pampered with the trusted homemade jams and jellies recipes cited below.
Cherry Jam
Sweet small lustful red cherries are everyone’s favorite and we are tempted to preserve it. This cherry jam ensures you relish them year round.
You will need-
1. Rainier Cherries (ripe, hulled and crushed) 4 cups
2. Lemon juice 3 tablespoons
3. Water ¼ cup
4. Pectin (powdered) 2tsp
5. White granulated sugar 5 cups
Place the chopped cherries in a heavy bottomed pot. Add in the lemon juice, pectin, and water. Mix well.
Heat the pan over high flame, stirring regularly. Let it come to a boil and cherries began
turning mushy.
Add the sugar. Cook for 2 more minutes while constantly muddling up the jam.
Turn off the gas. Skim off any foam on the top of the jam.
Check for sheeting on the back of the cooking spoon. Your cherry jam is ready.
Sterilize jars. Pour the jam in hot jars leaving ¼ inch top empty. Run a palette knife through jar to remove any air bubble. Follow the instructions given with jar for bottling.
Enjoy it yourself with pancakes, waffle, or toast and if you like the recipe don’t forget to share.
Happy sharing!
Social Chef magic tip: 1. Replace water with apple juice for enhanced flavor.
2. You can make cherry jam without pectin powder too. Pectin is developed naturally when fruits are cooked for a long time. Adding it in powder form reduces the cooking time.
Hot pepper jelly
This is another classic favorite from the Social Chef’s bouquet of jams and jellies. Hot pepper jelly or three-pepper jelly is a tangy preparation. It makes a good company for appetizers or soft cheese like cream cheese, goat cheese, and Camembert. Not only the jelly topped crackers are relished but it is an excellent smear for grilled chicken and pork.
The ingredients for homemade hot pepper jelly you’ll need-
1. Apple Cider vinegar 1-1/2 cups
2. Red pepper, cut into wedges 2 1/2 cup
3. Yellow bell pepper 2 cup
4. Chopped jalapeno peppers 2/3 cup
5. Granulated white sugar 6 cups
6. Liquid fruit pectin 3 ounces
or
Powdered pectin 50 grams
7. Red food coloring (optional) 1 teaspoon
It is a simple method to prepare the classic jelly. Add the bell peppers and jalapenos to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat it over the high flame.
Stir in vinegar and pectin.
Bring it to boil and add sugar, mix well.
Cook for another minute.
Turn the flame off and take the saucepan down from the gas. Remove all the floating scum.
Fill the jelly in a sterilized jar. Screw the lid tightly and place the jar in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.
Apricot Jam
In the series of exotic jams and jellies of seasonal fruits, apricot jam is a marvel. The yummy mash of fresh golden apricot teams brilliantly with the toast and New York cheesecake. This recipe of apricot jam without pectin is homemade yet does not compromise on taste.
Ingredients
1. Apricot 1 kilogram
2. Lemon 1
3. White granulated sugar 900 gram
4. Water 250 ml
Peel and deseed the apricots. Chop them in rough chunks.
Cook the chunks with sugar, lime juice, and water in a heavy bottom saucepot on medium flame.
Lower the flame as soon as the mixture starts to boil. Cook for around 20 minutes more.
The mixture will reduce and thicken.
Test if your jam is done. How? Take out a chilled empty plate from the freezer and drop a blob of jam on it. It will cool quickly. The jam is done when it wrinkles on touching.
Once cooled, ladle the jam in the warm sterilized jar.
Social Chef magic tip: Add a spoonful of butter to enhance the flavor and golden sheen.
You can enjoy the above jams and jellies recipes as well as can be gifted too!
