Angela’s ‘flexible’ jam recipe

Make the most of fruit gluts and try making your own jam – delicious spread on homemade bread

  • Prep:10 mins
    Cook:50 mins
  • Serves 1.2 litres/4 jam jars
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 0
  • fat 0g
  • saturates 0g
  • carbs 0g
  • sugars 0g
  • fibre 0g
  • protein 0g
  • salt 0g

Ingredients

  • 900g fruit (blackberries, plums, raspberries or strawberries), prepared weight
  • 900g golden granulated sugar
  • knob of butter

Tip

Our downloadable labels

Download our printable preserves labels – perfect for writing cook’s notes and gift messages. You can find them here.

Method

  1. Put the fruit into a preserving pan or large heavy-based saucepan. For blackberries, add 50ml of water and 1½ tbsp of lemon juice; for plums (halved and stoned), use 150ml of water; for strawberries, add 3 tbsp of lemon juice (no water); and for raspberries, add nothing. Bring to the boil.

  2. Lower the heat. For blackberries, simmer for 15 minutes; for plums, simmer for 30-40 minutes; for raspberries, simmer for 2 minutes; for strawberries, simmer for 5 minutes. The fruit should be soft.

  3. Tip in the sugar, stir over a very low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Raise the heat, bring to a full rolling boil, then rapidly boil blackberries for 10-12 minutes, plums for 10 minutes, raspberries for 5 minutes or strawberries for 20-25 minutes - don’t stir though – until the setting point of 105C is reached.

  4. Remove from the heat, skim off any excess scum, then stir a knob of butter across the surface (this helps to dissolve any remaining scum). Leave for about 15 mins so the fruit can settle. Pour into sterilised jars, label and seal.

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