I’M SORRY!!! And Raspberry Jam

Oh my god!  It’s been over a month since I updated!  I am so very, very sorry!!! 

I have now moved house.  I am officially living in the charming town of Easingwold… I haven’t actually spent any time in Easingwold but it looks very charming as I drive out in the morning and back in the evenings!  Weekends have been spent worshiping in the hallowed halls of Ikea or lugging boxes down the A19 from “home” to “my house”.  I am hopeful that this weekend I will be able to get to know my local delis a bit as I have reached the point where the stuff still in boxes is optional and unpacking is no longer a priority.   

Naturally, my kitchen was the first thing I got sorted out to my liking.  I am even adapting well to using an electric hob and oven for the first time.  (Haven’t tried the grill yet.)  I have all my things and a pantry!!!  Once gain I have to apologise for the lack of updates.  I have been mostly sticking to tried and true recipes so haven’t really had anything to post and this is one of the first nights I’ve even had the time to post.  Hopefully this will change now that I’m mostly unpacked. 

However, one thing I did manage to make time for was Raspberry Jam. 

Raspberry is my favourite jam.  I will pick it over strawberry any day of the week.  So I took the time a few weekends ago to go out the the pick you own and picked myself 6 1/2 lbs of raspberries.  Then I bought myself a jam pan and some jam jars (I had to buy jam jars!  Normally I’d just go to the cupboard but I have yet to build up a stash!)  I consulted with my mum’s copy of Beryl*… and then winged it! 

I didn’t have enough sugar on hand and raspberries just don’t keep well.  In order to postpone my jam making I put the raspberries and what sugar I did have in the jam pan and kept it in the fridge overnight.  Then, once I had enough sugar I simply added this to the pan and set it on the heat.  Not the way that Beryl says to do it but it worked! 

Yeild Varies.  (I had 6 1/2 lbs of both raspberries and sugar and ended up with 13 jars of various sizes.  Judge by eye whet you have and mentally translate that volume into jars!)

Equal weights of freshly picked raspberries and granulated sugar. 
a knob of butter

– Place the raspberries and the sugar in a very large pan and bring to a fast boil. 
– Place a small dish or plate in the fridge or freezer. 
– Wash your jam jars and place them in the oven, I went with 90*C, on a low heat to dry them completely. 
– Keep stirring the pan so that everything is nicely mixed up. 
– The sugar will melt and the berries will fall apart. 
– Keep boiling it at a fast boil for about 30 minutes. 
– This jam throws a lot of skum.  Skim off the worst of it then add a good knob of butter to take care of the rest.  (It may not work immediately but if you are nearing the setting point and there’s still a lot of skum add another knob.) 
– Check the drips off the spoon for “flaking”.  The drips will slow and look flatter as you approach the setting point. 
– If you have a jam thermometer use this to see if the setting point has been reached. 
– If you don’t have a jam thermometer (or don’t trust it in my case) then take a small spoonful of jam and place it on your cold plate.  Wait about 30 seconds then push it with your finger.  If it wrinkles ahead of your finger it is ready. 
– Remove from the heat and decant into your hot, prepared jars.  Put the lids on straight away and set aside to cool. 

*Beryl is the much beloved copy of Beryl Wood’s Let’s Preserve It.  And I have great, great news people…

… they’re REPRINTING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

You can preorder it off Amazon now but they’re not publishing until 5th May 2011.  I’ll be keeping you posted but my copy is already ordered!

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