Use up a glut of summer berries to make this jam – or just buy bags of frozen berries from the supermarket – ideal if you need a taste of summer in the midst of January. It keeps well for months in the cupboard, but disappears very quickly once you open a jar. Excellent with croissants or fresh bread, on yogurt or dolloped on to rice pudding.
INGREDIENTS
1kg summer berries (prepped weight) – I use a mixture of cherries, strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants
800g sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
METHOD
Hull the strawberries and remove the pips and stalks from the other berries. Cut any large strawberries in half and leave the others whole.
Put them in a large bowl with the sugar and lemon juice, mix gently and cover with a circle of parchment paper. Leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to macerate. This draws the juice from the fruit and starts to dissolve the sugar into a syrup.
Pour into a large preserving pan, and over a medium high heat, bring to the boil, stirring often to prevent it from sticking. It will foam and froth. I don’t skim my jam until right at the end because much of this froth will disappear as the jam cooks.
Boil for five to ten minutes – the length of time depends on your fruit. The jam will thicken, it will steam less, the bubbling will slow and it will start to look like jam. It should reach 105c on a candy thermometer and wrinkle when you run your finger through a spot of it on a cold plate. Only when it reaches this point do I skim any remaining froth from my jam.
Ladle into warm, steralised jars.
