HF’s food historian, Seren Hollins, digs into her rationing cookbooks
for inspiration to turn fruit into slightly more wholesome preserves.
Like our recipe for parsnip cake this brings out the natural sweetness of the fruit (or veg) to sweeten. Whilst some recipes suggest replacing sugar with stevia this one uses the fruit’s natural sweetness and fruit juice to add the sweetness to the jam.Seren’s Tip: Pic the very best, ripest fruit you can find as there will be no added sugar to mask any tartness or pep up the end result.
INGREDIENTS
- 1.8kg pears, peeled and cored
- 2 lemons
- 60ml white grape juice
- 3 tsp pectin powder (for jam making)
METHOD
1 Quarter the prepared pears, cut each quarter in half, then place the pieces in a saucepan and cook (covered, with enough water to cover just the bottom of the pan) for 10–12 minutes, until soft.2 Leave the softened pears to cool, then blend with a food processor, hand blender, or just a good old-fashioned potato masher if nothing else is to hand. Set aside the pear purée.
3 Finely slice 1 of the lemons after removing the pithy core. To do this, cut it in half along the stem line and remove the pithy centre, then turn each lemon half over and slice finely. Place the slices into a small saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 10 minutes.
4 Put the water in which the lemons simmered and the pear purée into a large saucepan, add the squeezed juice of the remaining lemon to the mixture, then bring to the boil over a medium heat. Once boiling, reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring regularly to prevent sticking or burning.
5 Blitz the lemon slices in a food processor and add the lemon pulp to the simmering pears, then stir well.
6 When the pear mixture has a soft, smooth consistency, remove it from the heat and add the white grape juice, stirring well.
7 Bring the pear mixture back to the boil and quickly stir in the pectin powder. Cook the jam, stirring constantly for exactly 1 minute, bring it back to the boil, then remove from the heat.
8 Pour the jam into sterilised jars, wiping the rims clean before sealing the lids.
This jam will keep for 8–10 weeks in the fridge, and is delicious in its own right, but is best spread on thick toast.
https://homefarmer.co.uk