Raspberry Jam - Quick, Easy And Delicious

I came across a recipe for an old-fashioned pudding in a cookbook originally published in 1926.  One of the ingredients is jam or jelly, no quantities given.  You had to know what you were doing in those far off days:=)  It would have been easy to use the bought jam we had in the fridge (I had forgotten about it actually), but I felt it would be a lovely thing to make my own.  So I did.  

I found a quick and easy recipe in a book by Annabel Langbein, one of my fave TV cooks.  I have had mixed success with jams; one of my interesting attempts was to make jaboticaba and strawberry jam.  Not realising how much pectin was in the dark skin of this Brazilian fruit, my jam became like toffee and needed a jackhammer to get it out of the jar.  Sadly I had no jackhammer, so it eventually went the way of the dinosaur.

you can just see my Polish kitchen angel on the shelf 

No problems with Annabel's jam though.  It turned out wonderfully well if I do say so myself.  Mr P. had a lick of the spoon and said it was the best raspberry jam he had ever eaten.  High praise indeed. 



Ingredients:


500g. raspberries, fresh or frozen

500g. sugar - I used caster

1 tsp butter


Method:


Place the fruit and sugar into a wide, deep saucepan 

Bring to the boil while stirring - this took 15 minutes, probably 'cos I used frozen fruit

Add the butter

Now boil fast and furiously for 8-10 minutes 

Spoon into warm, sterilised jars - this made about 600mls of jam


Tips:

Test the jam by placing a small amount on a cold saucer; if a skin forms, you know it is ready

Sterilise the jars by washing in hot, soapy water then rinsing and sticking in a low oven - about 130C for 20 minutes

Make sure the jars are still warm when you put the jam in; you don't want them to crack


  

just 3 ingredients   

stir till it boils  

once boiled, throw in the knob of butter   

boil madly for 8-10 minutes      

testing on a cold plate to see if ready 

ladle the jam into a Pyrex jug, then it's easy to pour into the jars     

such pretty, glossy jam   

I can't wait to try it in my pudding!  Which I will post next week, so hold onto your horses till then.

my jammy foodle