summer loving jam

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I don’t know if this was the best name for the jam. It’s been such an odd summer. Bakingly hot this week, a huge cyclone hitting the country and catastrophic flooding in recent weeks. The middle of the night being woken by the smell of a fire, it’s certainly been an odd summer. Fruit and vegetable prices are set to increase due to the natural disasters effecting so many farmers, so I actually feel kind of lucky to be able to even make this jam. To be in a position to cook up and store some of summers beautiful stone fruit offerings. Eaten mindfully and enjoying every spoonful that’s for sure.

Jam really is so easy to make. It’s been said countless times before, but it really is such a great way to preserve the season.

Equal parts sugar to fruit, (generally) if needed some pectin of some sort. Cook it up until it thickens and hey presto, done.

Summer Loving Jam

plums- two kinds

peaches

nectarines

juice of one lemon

 

ratio

1 kilo fruit

1 kilo sugar

500mls water

I just roughly chopped the fruit and then gently with a hand held mixer, blitzed any big lumps. If you don’t have that, cut it finer, (or enjoy your lumps.)

Cooking at a rolling ball, until cold saucer test stage. In to sterilised jars and store.

33 thoughts on “summer loving jam”

  4. Ah this post really reminds me that Australia is a world away – summer fruit jam making – all those wonderful rich ruby colours – oh what would I give for a sun ripened peach right now ! Beautiful photos – what’s your secret ? đŸ™‚

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  5. Oh, yum – fantastic. Nothing says home like home made jam (on home made bread). Oh and by the way – I am glad there were no deaths in the cyclone, but 3 births! I think it says something of the year to come. Happy New Chinese Year of the bunny!

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  6. anytime is toast or scones and jam time.looks delicious.your summer lovin jam would do the job fine! banana’s today $2.98 per kilo…what will they be in a fortnight? xx

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  7. That is so lovely. You do take marvelous photos- and your jam is making me want some buttered toast and jam right now!
    Thanks for the sight of summer fruit- I see it in the stores- but out of season is out of my price and comfort zones.

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  8. I do a lot of jams, but this pectin/no pectin thing gets to me. I don’t like using pectin because of the obscene amounts of sugar required to get a proper set. But then, if you don’t use pectin, you have to cook the jam down, and I think that the longer it cooks, the less real fruit essence and color you have.

    But recently I realized that if you make a thick pectin freezer jam, it may begin life as more sugar than fruit, but you can keep adding fresh fruit as the jar goes down – I just keep filling it with new crushed fruit, stir it up, and put it back in the fridge for safe keeping. This gives you full, fresh fruit flavor and color, and a nice thick pectin set that lasts quite long. I find that a jar that usually lasts maybe a month or two will stay ‘jammy’ for maybe 6-7 months – and the flavor just keeps getting better!

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    • Thats interesting about the freezer jam. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it like that before…
      Pectin in fruit mystifys me a bit. I generally only use lemon or lime as my setting agent (if it needs it). For keeping the real flavour of the fruit I try and make sure there are a few greener fruits in the batch which seem to give out a more intense flavour. (I learnt recently that fruit with lower amounts of pectin, you put in lower amounts of sugar…no idea how that works though!)

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    • You could do it in a heart beat I’m sure đŸ™‚ Pick an easy fruit, marmalade (if you like it) is a good one to start with (thinking of your seasons atm) equal parts sliced oranges to sugar, cook it up….
      Go on, I dare you! đŸ™‚

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  10. Yep. Absolutely the best way to preserve the season, couldn’t agree more. Love stone fruit jams, I’ve been eyeing them off in the markets lately too. I’d love to know more about Dani’s solar oven too…, interesting stuff.

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  11. Oh, yeah…summer in a jar alright! Lovely! I haven’t tried nectarines in jam..must do that!

    Devastating about the crops..I remember a few years ago after cyclone Larry, bananas were so scarce we would pay through the nose for the odd one or two as a treat for the kids instead of a biscuit or cake at the shops. I love my bananas, I don’t want to miss them đŸ˜¦

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  14. This looks delicious! I bought some pineapple and rosemary jam in Milan the other day. I can’t wait to try it, but I’ll bet it won’t be as good as yours.

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  15. Australia certainly has been having a hard time of it recently. We heard that the cyclone, luckily wasn’t as bad as people were expecting, but the floods were horrendous. And, as you say, so many crops destroyed too. What was the burning – have you been having bush fires too?

    Your jam sounds delicious and looks lovely – I wouldn’t have expected it to be that beautiful red colour – plum skins?

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    • There are always a few bushfires about at any one time in summer, the one we were smelling was in the north of the city, in National Park.
      The jam colour, probably a mix of all the skins, but the plum with the really dark skins and yellower flesh does bring a gorgeous red colour. Very vivid!

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