Monday of the Queen's Birthday long weekend. Time to make a small amount maybe a jar or two of raspberry jam.
I went around the house looking for recipes. Went old school actually looked in books. Found a few raspberry jam recipes, but it was one in particular that stood out. It was in my Paternal Grandmother's cookbook. The book doesn't seem to have a print date in it so I am unsure of the book's age. It is called Australian home cookery and I love that I can get this chance to test it out. My Grandmother passed away in the second half of the 1970's so I guess the book is from the 1950s. Just a guess. All the measurements are in ounces and pounds. For this recipe which has only 2 ingredients the ratio is more important than the quantity.
There may be one little issue. I will be using frozen raspberries. I grabbed a half kilo packet from Coles and am not sure how they will react, but you son't find out unless you have a go.
Recipe
Ingredients
Raspberries 500 grams (frozen, I'm guessing fresh are better)
White Sugar 380 grams
Method :
1. In a bowl top the raspberries with 190 grams of your sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight. I was considering just leaving for a few hours but as this recipe contains only sugar and raspberries I think having some patience here will be beneficial. The extra time will give the sugar time to draw out more of the liquid from the berries.
2. After allowing the Raspberries to sit overnight quite a large quantity of liquid is drawn out of the berries and it is in this liquid that we will cook the jam. In the picture above on the right you can hopefully get an idea of just how much liquid has come out of the berries. If you can't quite see maybe you can take my word for it that there is quite a lot. To this we add the other half of our sugar and then add to a suitable sized saucepan.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remember there is no need to add anything else. I say this in part because I was thinking that maybe I should add water or some of the packet of Jamsetta that I purchased at the supermarket. No. No. No. Nothing in this recipe except raspberries and sugar. Sitting at my computer 2 hours after cooking and jarring I believe that I am right. It requires nothing else. I think I have made that point. Where were we? That's right bring to a boil. Boil rapidly and reduce heat to medium when the threat of having red splashes of jam scattered all over the kitchen gets too much for you. Simmer until the jam thickens. I this case it took about 12 minutes total cooking time. It was surprisingly simple.
4.Test to see if the jam is thick enough. Place a small side plate into the freezer when you start cooking. Remove plate from freezer and scoop a teaspoon full of hot jam onto the plate. Allow to cool for a minute and then run a recently washed finger through the cooled jam. If it stays parted like the red sea then the jam is cooked, If not continue to simmer and reduce for a few more minutes and try again.
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