A little jar of sunshine
Because of the warm start to the year, then harsh frosts, all our blossom on the plum trees was destroyed, so this year we have not had any plums. The problem affected a lot of fruit growing regions throughout France and hence prices have reflected that. As I haven’t any plums to make jam, I thought I’d look to make some from a different fruit. At the market they had some reasonably priced peaches, so I thought I’d give them a go.
After washing the peaches, I needed to remove the skins. You do this by cutting a cross in the opposite end to where the stalk would be, dropping them into boiling water for about 5 minutes, then scooping them out straight into ice cold water. The skin can then be easily pealed off. I must admit I did have some that didn’t come off that easy so I’ve left it on.
They then need slicing. That’s easy to do, cut around 8 slices, by cutting into the stone into the middle and carefully pulling the fleshy slice off. You need equal amounts of sugar to fruit. So 2 kg of fruit equals 2 kg of sugar. I used jam sugar, which has additional pectin in it, that will help the jam to set. I then used a method to help the sugar to dissolve into the fruit juices, you do this by layering the fruit with the sugar in a bowl, until it’s all used up, then squeeze the juice of a lemon over it, and cover. Keep it in the fridge for at least a few hours, I actually left it 2 days as I wasn’t ready to make it straight away. But it’s good to get this part done.
Not all the sugar was dissolved but the fruit starts to release its juice so it does also help reduce the boiling time of the jam. Next, boil the mixture in a large flat bottomed pan. It only needs about 10–15 minutes on a rolling boil. Check it by dropping a bit of jam on a cold saucer, I normally put a couple in the freezer to cool down ready for the testing.
You need to have already prepared your jars. Thouroughly wash them, then place in an oven for 15 minutes at 100°c. Careful when taking them out, they do keep their heat well. Once you have boiled the jam, and you are satisfied with the set test, you can carefully pour it into the jars. I have a ladle and jam funnel, which works very well to get the hot syrupy jam into the jars. The tops then need sealing as quickly as you can, as it’s the vacuum from the cooling jam that helps the seal and allows you to store it. I use some jam pots with the rubber seals, and some jam jars with the jam pot lids, which you can buy from most supermarkets now. If one of them doesn’t seal so well, then pop that in the fridge and eat that one first.
Mine haven’t all got lots of fruit in them, some are just peach jelly, but it will be good to use over fruit tarts or swirled in yoghurt or on porridge.
They look like a little jar of sunshine, a glow of pinky orange. I can’t wait to try it on some fresh crusty bread.
