Ingredients
5-6 cups (peeled, pitted & chopped) apricots, peaches, plums and/or nectarines
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water or juice (pear, apple, apricot or peach)
4.5 cups raw sugar or Stevia equiv. (optional)
1 box no-sugar needed pectin regardless of whether you’ve decided to add sugar or not (pectin is a natural product made from apples)
1 tsp cardamom added when boiling jam (optional)
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
Summary
As stone fruit season kicks in and the price comes down, make your own Stone Fruit Jam to keep your taste buds twanging throughout the cooler months. You can make this recipe with no/less added sugar or Stevia to make a stewed fruit compote to top your yoghurt with each morning. Keep in mind though that the less sugar content, the higher the risk of your jams potentially going off.
Equipment you’ll need
- Funnel to get the jam cleanly into jars
- 1 very large pot – big enough to completely submerge & sanitise jars
- 10 x 8oz ball jars and something to grab them safely out of hot water with
- 10 x lids (single use) with bands/rings to secure the lids to jars (reusable)
Instructions
- Don’t have a dishwasher? Wash containers in hot, soapy water & rinse, then boil for 10 mins. Keep jars in hot water/dishwasher until ready for use. Pop lids into hot (but not boiling) water also.
- Wash fruit, removing stems & leaves, then drain. Dip into boiling water for 30-60 seconds then remove and dunk into iced water. The skins will come off easily. Put iced water in freezer for later use.
- Cut stone fruit; remove pits & any bruised areas. Coat stone fruit with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Follow sugar-pectin ratio measures provided inside pectin packet. Mix dry pectin quantity with 1/4 cup of sugar or other sweetener quantity you plan on using.
- If you like your jam firmly set, add a little more pectin than the instructions specify.
- In a large pot mix the stone fruit with the pectin/sugar mix in a large pot, adding 1/2 cup of water or juice. Over medium-to-high heat bring to a full boil and stir often enough to prevent burning.
- Once the mixture has come to a full boil, add the addition sugar/sweetener. Bring back to a full boil for 1 min & then turn off the heat. Test the jam thickness by scooping a tbsp of mixture & cooling the back of the spoon in cool water from earlier. If the jam thickens to a consistency you like then the jam is ready! If not, mix in a little more pectin & bring back to the boil for another minute.
- Fill jars to within ¼ inch of top & put lid and rings on. Wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring. Then put the whole jars into boiling water, ensuring they’re completely submerged.
- Keep water boiling for 5-8 mins, then remove jars, let cool & remove rings. If any aren’t sealed properly (lid pops back if pushed in the centre), refrigerate them so they don’t go off. Sealed ones can be kept in storage for about 6 months.
Hints and Tips
Jam can only be made in rather small batches (about 6 cups at a time) like the directions on the pectin say. Don’t increase the measures of the recipe by much or the jam won’t set or thicken. It takes about 8 cups of raw, unprepared stone fruit per batch. For apricot-berry jam, I use 4 cups of mushed (slightly crushed) Apricots, 1 cup of raspberries and 1 cup of blackberries. Makes a great flavor together!
