The Carrot Tops Allotment Blog!

Ok, so I’m giving the jam making a go. I’ve tried making jam in the past and it was ended up being a huge mistake. I made apple and marrow jam which turned into concrete, I think there’s still some of it under the stairs, which has the potential to be discovered by some kind of future civilisation.

This time, I’m making rhubarb jam and it’s a simple recipe that will appeal to the rhubarb puritans out there – it’s just sugar and rhubarb.

Ingredients
1 kg of rhubarb chopped into 1cm pieces, this will make around three to four jars
800 – 900g of jam sugar (sugar with added pectin)

Method

1. Add together the sugar and the rhubarb and leave the mixture over night. When you open the lid in the morning, you’ll be greeted with a lovely, chunky, syrupy mixture.

2. Place a saucer in the fridge and let it cool. You’ll need this later to do the wrinkle test.

3. Gradually bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer until everything starts to break down, stirring regularly – this should take around 20 – 30 minutes or so.

4. Wash your jars and lids thoroughly in hot water and place in an oven on a low heat, this will sterilise the jars.

5. As you cook the jam, a white froth will appear, this is called the scum, take a spoon and gradually skim off the scum and disregard.

I’ve also heard that a knob of butter will also disolve the scum into the mixture.

5. When you think you’ve got the right consistancy, take a spoonful of jam and place it on the saucer that you placed into the fridge earlier on. Let the spoonful cool, and then push it with your finger, if you see wrinkles then your jam is at the right consistency.  If you don’t get that result, then keep simmering and repeat the wrinkle test every five minutes.

6. Turn off the heat and spoon into the jars, you may need a funnel for this to make life easier. When the jar is full, finish off with a waxy disc, which you’ll be able to get in any supermarket and then seal with the accompanying plastic disc, finish off the jar by screwing on the lid and then let it cool.

I’ve read that adding ginger or vanilla is a good move with rhubarb jam – what’s your twist?