In The Pink - Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
When I spotted fresh rhubarb in my local green grousers last week I instantly knew that this would be too good an opportunity to miss out on making one of my seasonal favorites, rhubarb and stem ginger jam. There is something very satisfying about doing any sort of preserving but jam making is so simple and the results taste so good that I try to make jam as often as I can. This recipe is one of my favorite and great to try at home yourself.
1kg of fresh rhubarb
1kg of high pectin jam sugar
30g of candied stem ginger
juice of half a lemon
All you need for this recipe is a jam thermometer, a good pan and a little patience. Cut up your rhubarb into 2cm lengths and finely chop your your stem ginger and add them into your pan and mix in the lemon juice (the addition of lemon juice well bring out the flavor in the fruit). Add the jam sugar (using hi pectin sugar will help your jam set as rhubarb does not contain much pectin) into the pan along with a little water, as this will stop the fruit catching on the bottom of the pan whilst you start the cooking process. Once the juices start to come out of the fruit stir your jam mixture every couple of minutes, again to prevent your mixture catching on the pan. Using a jam thermometer, heat your mixture to 104c to get it to the jam stage, getting your mixture to 100c will happen very quickly but getting the extra 4c will take a lot longer as a lot of moisture will have to be removed before it will go above boiling point.
Once you reach the magic number of 104c spoon your mixture into sterilized jam jars whilst it is hot and place a lid on it. Once it cools the mixture will contract and cause a natural vacuum seal on your jam jars keeping it fresh for months.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!!!
