… an empty bottle, an empty jar… sitting there on the shelf… is there anything more alluring to a foodie than the call of the un-contained container…?
… other than a very brief foray into an amazing jar of banana jam i’ve never actually made a proper breakfast jam before… i’ve never made marmalade… i’ve never pickled anything and i’ve most certainly never bottled anything like my own sloe gin or elderflower cordial… it’s hard to believe isn’t it, but it’s true… well, all that’s about to change as i’ve been very fortunate to have been sent the most generous box of goodies from the fine people at quickjars… the box is quite literally stuffed with bottles of all sizes – including a champagne bottle – jam jars and mustard jars… all their bottles and jars are handpicked and environmentally sourced which makes you feel good about filling them with your own beautifully crafted produce… it’s probably one of the most exciting gifts a foodie can get and I can’t wait to start filling them all… there are some amazingly delicious recipes on the brilliant quickjars website that i’m already planning to make but I do hope you’ll all help inspire me with ideas of what to fill them with over the next weeks and months too…
wild strawberry, rose and purple gooseberry jam
The Viking grabbed a couple of wild strawberry plants at the garden centre back in May and popped them into our planted wheelbarrow… they’ve slowly blossomed into a glorious bush of the deepest ruby nuggets and it seems the more you pick the more come back… it’s still only a handful but combined with the small handful of purple gooseberries I get from our single gooseberry bush he thought they’d make a very cute pot of jam… and he was right… as i’ve never made proper jam before I don’t think my method is particularly proper either so it’s doubtful if you should follow it but i’ve got myself a little pot of glorious fruity fabulousness so i’m quite happy… well done Viking…
so it’s a little hard to give you measurements as it was all a little bit of guess-work but here goes:
10 wild strawberries
10 purple gooseberries
5 raspberries
the rind of a quarter of an orange – thinly sliced
4 or 5 tablespoons caster sugar (you want the same weight of sugar as fruit)
1 teaspoon rosewater
place it all in a small pan, stir it together and let it sit for a minute or two as the fruit absorbs the sugar, then gently bring to the boil
let it boil at a rapid boil for 2 or 3 minutes… it should start to thicken and the boiling should become less rapid
take it off the heat and pour a teaspoon of the jam onto a cold plate or an object from in the fridge, let it sit for a moment or two and then push it gently with your finger. If it wrinkles, even a little, then it’s done, if not then place it back onto the heat for a little while longer
pour into a sterilised jar and seal with wax paper and a lid
this months brilliant AlphaBakes challenge settles on the letter G and perhaps for the first time I can say with confidence that this jam with its gooseberries can be included… AlphaBakes is hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker
the enthusiastic foodies over at quickjars have very kindly offered my readers a 10% discount voucher… all you have to do is send the lovely Adam a quick email via the quickjars site and he’ll send you the voucher…
eat and of course, enjoy!
Oooh lovely, I must search for some purple gooseberries!
I am a jam making machine … we're talking large batch 8-9 cups per batch … thus far, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and this week peach … the idea of making small batch is so intriguing to me … looks like you have the touch for making the nectar of the toast gods!
Is there anything more satisfying than sitting at the breakfast table dolloping your own homemade jam or marmalade onto your own homemade bread? I think not. And doesn't it always taste so much better? And how simple is it? How lovely is this combination, sweet and tart together.
This looks fabulous. The color is gorgeous and I can only imagine,sooooo delicious. I love making jam, pickling, canning you name it. There are all kinds of cookbooks for small batch canning. Check Amazon.
This just goes to show that you don't need huge quantities of fruit in order to make jam. Quality is better than quantity!
I am also in jam making mode, having harvested our red and white currants. I find it's so much fun – must be because I always end up with blobs of jam everywhere – just like when I used to help mum with the baking!
Yours looks delicious! I will look out for some purple gooseberries in the shops.
I'm obsessed with rosewater, especially paired with strawberries, so this sounds like heaven to me!
Lovely combination of flavours. Mr LTT and I foraged blackberries from my parent's farm and made jam for the first time last year. I think we high fived when we finished it and made toast the next morning. Upon opening the jar and trying to stick my spoon it, we found out it was hard as glass! I had tried to go off-piste with the recipe on the first attempt and failed miserably. Second time came out perfect though 🙂
My mom used to make jams all the time when I was a kid. Jarring was something she did at least twice a year. It always looked like such a pain, but I guess it was so worth it as homemade jams/jellies are so much better than store bought!! And I love that you don't have to use a lot of berries with this recipe. Simple and perfect!
FABULOUS combination of flavours Dom and I am also ready to launch into jam mode too! Your photos are also stunning – so summery and what's the word I am looking for……JAM-ALICIOUS! I might send the lovely folks at Quickjars an email about that 10% discount, as I have some elderflower champagne to bottle soon!
I couldn't agree more Dom, what a delicious sounding jam! Looking forward to reading all the other jar and bottle recipes you'll come up with!
I'm definitely in favour of small-scale jam making – I'm sure it's the way forward. Lovely combination of berries and other flavours you have there. Sadly, whenever I harvest wild strawberries, I usually eat them so quickly that there are none left for jam.
Mmmmm. The colours look so good – I bet it tastes out of this world too! The rosewater is a real stroke of genius… Can't wait to give it a try (though I might have to substitute some of your more exotic fruits!)
nice your site thanks for sharing love you all team good work keep it up
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This is amazing Dom. It looks so bright and the flavours sound so good.
Oh goosegogs, wonderful! mmmmm!
That sounds like a most delicious jar of breakfast jam Dom. Our gooseberries were all eaten by the birds – didn't get a single one.
Great entry for AlphaBakes -no tenuous links this time 😉 Love the flavour combination and the jam looks delicious. Thanks for entering AlphaBakes.