Tuesday, January 3, 2012

When Plums are only $1 a kilo, its easy to go a bit crazy an buy more then you need. The solution is make jam... well Ive written jam on all the jars but its actually jelly as I prefer the texture. 
I don't have an exact recipe as i have a tendency to just wing it but the basic recipe is
Cut all plums in half, leaving the seeds in, as you go put them directly straight into the pot
Once you have the amount you want or if like me can fit in the pot fill to just covering with water
Bring to the boil then simmer until the plums are all mushy
Drain the plums, I find the use of a muslin cloth  over a colander the easiest
Leave for a couple of hours to drain, if you squeeze the plum you will get a cloudy jelly
Next tip the liquid into a clean pot, I add a cup of sugar per cup of liquid
simmer this till it reduces, now plums have naturally got pectin in them but for a harder set i added some jam setter at the end
The rest is easy ladle into clean sterile jars and water bath for 10 minutes.
 With the left over plums... yes even after making all that jelly there was still plums left i think roughly 6 kg and also the left over pulp from the jelly I took all the seeds out and simmered it until it was soft, not long at all under 30 min I then puree it make fruit roll ups, I'm still making them actual, I don't want to kill my dehydrator so I'm only doing one batch a day. So far I'm up to day 7 and I can happily say this is the last batch to be done yay.

 Had to throw in a little harvest pic, we are starting to get more zucchinis an the tomatoes are still plodding along, but I'm thinking of pulling them all out and planting some more as they are all a bit straggly from all the rain last two months.
I have been impatient to make pectin so I went and collected all the apples that had fallen on the ground and also picked any that had spots from the tree to make pectin.


Again I don't have a recipe for this but same as for the jelly, cut up fruit and cover with water when apples are mushy drain the put liquid bake in pot (but don't add sugar) Then reduce, to test if its ready place some in the fridge to cool ones cool, drop a spoon full into some methylated spirits if it congeals congratulations its ready, If it doesn't don't worry just keep simmering down, then jar up as per normal.

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