Home made French apple jam
Uses every scrap except the stalk!
Servings: 6 400g jars
Calories: 30kcal
Cost: 54p a jar using purchased apples
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- large mixing spoon
- Jam thermometer
- Jam funnel
- stick blender
- Preserving pan
Ingredients
- 1.3 kg sharp apples cut into chunks
- 1 lemon zest & juice
- 2 tsp cardomon seeds, in their pods
- 1 kg sugar
- 250 ml water
- 3 tblsp orange peels cooked and pureed, optional
Metric - US Customary
Instructions
Apples
- Roughly chop the apples. Don't peel or core them. Remove any bruised parts or any insect damage. The pips are fine to include, but if you'd rather not, pick them out now.
- Take the cardamom seeds out of the paper husks and crush them
- Place the apples in the preserving pan, or large thick bottomed saucepan, along with the water, cardamom seeds, lemon zest and juice and orange peel puree if using
- Simmer gently until the apples are cooked through. Depending on the type of apples you used, they may cook down to a mush, or they may remain whole.
- Do not rush this step. Cook the fruit on too high a heat and they may catch and give your lovely jam a burnt flavour. Cook for not enough time and you’ll have hard or chewy fruit in the finished jam.
- As the entire apple is included, once the fruit is soft, put a stick blender in to break up the skin. Puree it completely, or leave as many bits in it as you would like
- Once the fruit is soft enough, add the sugar. Remove the lid and boil a bit faster until setting point is reached. This should be about 10 minutes. This jam sets really well, so shouldn't take long. Don't boil too hard as the mix is quite thick, like a puree, and it may stick
- You can test the set by putting a teaspoon of jam on a cold saucer and putting it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. If it’s ready, it will have formed a skin in that time and when you push it gently with a finger you’ll see that skin.
- If you have a thermometer able to measure high enough, it should set when it reaches 104c/220f. Just keep simmering until it’s ready.
Jam Jars
- While the jam is simmering, sort your jam jars out. If you haven’t already, wash them, and pop them in a low oven to sterilise them. Some people use jars fresh from the dishwasher. Whatever you do, they need to be very clean, and dry.Any water in the jars allows a sugar syrup to develop, and over time, that may well grow mould, spoiling your lovely jam. And they need to be scrupulously clean so your jam will keep well, there must be no germs, bacteria or mould spores at all in the jars.And don’t forget the lids. If you are not using lids, cover the jars with cellophane circles and elastic bands. Or use circles cut from cereal box inners and perhaps a pretty ribbon. A little gingham fabric looks fabulous. Anything that will keep the jam clean and dry will do the job.
- Once the jam is ready to set, there may be scum on the top. Either skim it off, or stir in a generous knob of butter, this gets rid of any scum floating on the surface. Stir well. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring now and again
- Put your jars on a heatproof surface and carefully ladle in the jam. Be careful, splashes will burn you badly at this temperature. A jam funnel is helpful for this
- I usually put a very clean tea towel over the filled jars until they are just warm and only then put the lid on. The tea towel is to keep any mould spores in the air, off the surface of the jam.Others have recommended putting the lids on straight away and turning the jars upside down
Notes
Nutrition per tblsp
Much cheaper using foraged apples
Got a great recipe? How about submitting it to appear on Thrifty Lesley!
Got a great recipe? How about submitting it to appear on Thrifty Lesley!
Nutrition
Calories: 30kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 11mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 6IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg
