Homemade Berry Jam
Ever since I bought my Kenwood bread machine some long long time ago, I’ve been itching to make jam because it has a jam function!
And… I finally did it today!!! Because during my rare trip to the supermarket, strawberries were on sale. So I bought 2 boxes. And the blueberries were selling at a good price too, so 3 boxes of that. ?
Anyway, my kenwood jam recipe called for various stuff like sugar pectin etc, which I didn’t have. So I had to improvise and hope for the best.
After googling, I found out that a lot of fruits have natural pectin so it’s not necessary. Unfortunately, strawberries and blueberries don’t have pectin. Sigh! Luckily lemon does! So I decided to add lemon peel into the recipe.
So here’s my improvised recipe.
150g strawberries
150g blueberries
150g sugar
1tsp lemon juice
15g butter
Some lemon bits
I didn’t have a lemon zest so I used a peeler and sliced the peel into small slices. I was wondering why the recipe called for butter. After googling, it’s to reduce foam. Ah ok…
And then?? Everything goes into the bread machine.
Press a button and wait…
Meanwhile sterilize the jar. You can sterilize it by boiling it or you can put it into the oven for 20 mins at 200°C.
And the final product?? Ta da!!
Absolutely yummy! Full of natural goodness! Although it’s not as sweet as the commercial ones but I still find it a little too sweet for my liking. I’ll reduce the sugar amount in my next attempt.
But it was a chore to wash the bread machine. The melted sugar and jam paste flew everywhere and stuck to the machine. Took me a long time to get everything off… So, clean up while the machine is still warm.
Meanwhile, it’s jam time tomorrow!
A side titbit :
Pectin is a naturally occurring substance that makes jellies gel and gives jams their yummy spreadable consistency. Fruits that are low in pectin usually need to be combined with high-pectin fruits in order to get a good gel.
High Pectin Fruits
apples
citrus rinds
crab apples
cranberries
currants
gooseberries
plums
grapes
quinces
Low Pectin Fruits
apricots
blueberries
cherries
elderberries
peaches
pears
pineapple
raspberries
strawberries
