Kip does not mess around when it comes to jam. The figs were washed, mashed, cooked, bottles and voilà – fig jam. And to be honest it should be that easy.  No muss no fuss. What I liked best is that the jam is not too sweet, he avoids the trap of saturating it with sugar, so that you can still taste the fruit. And just wait till your try this on a piece of hot bread, or with yogurt as a desert.

Here is another fig desert recipe to try!

RECIPE : ERIKA ALLISTON - Sweet Pea Blog

• 1.7kg whole ripe figs
• 900 gr white sugar
• juice of one lemon

Wash and dry the figs. Place in a large / deep saucepan, and mash (see image)

1. Add sugar
2. Slowly bring to the boil.
3. Cook for about 8-10 minutes (the temperature should reach 105°C if you want to be exact)
4. While waiting sterilise the jam jars & tops
5. Check the goute test
6. Add lemon juice cook for another minute.
7. Pour jam into hot jars almost to the very top, screw on the top and turn the jar so that it sits on its lid to cool.

PEAR JAM with VANILLA BEAN

Seasonal fruit…. a delicacy, a rejuvenation of the senses and a welcomed change with each calender month that passes. But I find it sad how people seem to be increasingly unaware of which fruit belongs to which season and thus buy on a craving basis. It is no wonder though… with the grocery stores offering strawberries, peaches, mangoes, melon… (I could go on here) 365 days a year! Unless you have tasted a hand picked, perfectly ripe, home grown fruit, how are your sense suppose to know the difference.

I am getting off my soapbox … and have decided to dedicate this post to THE PEAR – ‘poire william’ to be exact, currently in season and picked from the farm trees a few days ago.

There are two main types of pears in Europe, the Anjou and the William (or Bartlett as they are known in North America) Anjou pears are a hardy winter pear, light green in colour and available from the autumn through to spring. Whereas the William pears are a sweeter variety (great for jam making) golden yellow with a fleck of red and ready to pick from late summer through the autumn.

RECIPE – ERIKA ALLISTON, Sweet Pea Blog

• 1kg (1000g) peeled & chopped William (Bartlett) pears
• 800g white sugar
• 1 lemon
• 1 fresh vanilla bean  (they are soft and usually sold in a small glass tube)
• 5 jam jars (depending on size)

Jam jar preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 100°C. To sterilise the jam jars (bocaux) wash them in soapy water, rinse and place open-side up on a tray in the the oven while you make the jam
2. Next squeeze the juice of one lemon and set aside. Now peel the pears, remove the stem and seeds and cut into small pieces.
3. In a very large saucepan (preferably one for making soups) add the chopped pears and sugar.

Jam making:

1. On the stove bring the pears and sugar to a rolling boil, and cook for 10-15 minutes.
2. While waiting prepare the vanilla. Cut the vanilla bean in half and remove the grains from inside by creating a long slit length wise down the vanilla bean and scraping out the inside.
3. Add the grains, the empty vanilla bean pod and the lemon juice to the jam, and cook for another 5 minutes until the “GOUTTE TEST” works (see below)
4. Remove the jam from the stove and take out the vanilla bean pods. Using an electric hand-mixer, slightly blend the fruit until desired texture (ie mix well if you prefer a smoother jam)
5. Remove the jam jars from the oven and with a ladle fill each jar until approx. 1cm from the surface. Cover with plastic or screw tops. Leave to set for 2-3 days.

GOUTTE TEST: a goutte is a drop and as I do not use pectin / certo to thicken the jam (lemon juice helps with this), you need to cook it until, dipping a wooden spoon into the jam and them holding the spoon horizontally over the saucepan, the LAST goutte / drop does not fall off the spoon but holds. You then know your jam will set.

{CONFITURE DE PECHE ET POIVRE ROSE} First a funny fact about me and the sweet little peach…, the fuzzy skin gives me ‘les frisons’ (shivers / goose-bumps)  like scratching your nails on a chalk board – not apricots or quince, just peaches – I know I am odd!

This fact however did not hinder my enthusiasm to make jam, nor Olivier’s ability to eat it (funny that – I think he may have an addiction) As do I for pepper… white, green, black or pink, so perhaps that is the source of my inspiration to combine peaches and pink pepper (poivre rose). Pink peppercorns (schinus terebinthifolius) come from Brazil or Peru and are not in fact a true peppercorn but a dried fruit from the Baies Rose. They have a lovely soft flavour with a little spice which compliments the white peaches very sweet taste.

Peach Jam HELPFUL HINTS:

• Peach season in Europe is from June to the end of September
• End of season peaches are sweeter as they have had more sunshine
• To easily remove peach skin, choose ripe peaches. Plunge them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then in cold water for 10 seconds. The skin will peal off easily.
• Use lemon juice as natural pectin
• If your peaches are not very ripe, they will not completely disintegrate when cooked and your jam will require a little hand mixing (see recipe below)

RECIPE – SWEET PEA BLOG

• Buy 4kg of whole local white peaches
• 2kg of white sugar (the key is 0,8kg of sugar for 1kg of chopped fruit)
• 1 lemon
• 1 heaping tablespoon ground pink pepper
• 12 jam jars (depending on size)

Jam jar preparation: 

1. Preheat your oven to 100°C.
2. To sterilise the jam jars (bocaux), wash them in soapy water, rinse and place on a tray in the oven while you make the jam.

Jam making:

1. Squeeze the juice of one lemon and set aside.
2. Next wash the peaches and cut them into eighths. You should end up with approximately 2.5kg of chopped fruit.
3. In a very large saucepan (preferably one for making soups) add the chopped peaches and cover with sugar. I often do this step the night before, the fruit will keep if well covered with sugar.
4. On the stove bring the peaches & sugar to a rolling boil, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and ground pink pepper and cook for at least another 5 minutes until the “GOUTTE TEST” works.
5. Remove the jam from the stove and using an electric hand-mixer, slightly blend the fruit until desired texture (ie mix well if you prefer a smoother jam)
6. Remove the jam jars from the oven and with a ladle fill each jar until approx. 1cm from the surface. Cover the plastic or screw tops. Leave to set for 1 week.

“GOUTTE TEST”: a goutte is a drop and as I do not use pectin / certo to thicken the jam (the lemon juice helps with this), you need to cook it until, after dipping the wooden spoon in the jam and then holding the spoon horizontally over the saucepan, the LAST goutte / drop does not fall off the spoon but holds. You then know your jam will set.

NOTE: Jam is often made using the ration 1kg chopped fruit for 1kg of sugar. I find this produces a jam that is too sweet and as such have reduced the sugar to 0.8kg. This jam goes wonderfully with natural yoghurt as a desert!

Jam Making WITHOUT PECTIN:

• I use the juice of a lemon = natural pectin, as the thickening agent for jam
• Certain fruits / berries such as blackberries naturally contain a high % of pectin, requiring less cooking time when making jam & little or no lemon juice

{CONFITURE D’ABRICOT ET ROMARIN} I was recently on holiday in Provence when the apricot season was in full bloom. To some this is a dream come true, to my father, whose keen desire to keep up with the overly abundant apricot tree in the garden (which was apparently getting the better of him), it was a loosing battle.

By the time I arrived he couldn’t look, let alone eat another one. Help was on the way Perfectly juicy and ripe, just waiting to be plucked and in close proximity to the rosemary bushes…. I couldn’t wait to make jam and thought how nicely the two would go together.

Jam Making WITHOUT PECTIN:

• I use the juice of a lemon = natural pectin, as the thickening agent for jam
• Certain fruits / berries such as blackberries naturally contain a high % of pectin, requiring less cooking time when making jam & little or no lemon juice

RECIPE – SWEET PEA BLOG

• Buy 5kg of whole local ripe apricots
• 2.72kg of white sugar  (the key is 0,8kg of sugar for 1kg of chopped fruit)
• 1 lemon
• 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 12 large jam jars (445ml each)

Rosemary sack : Place the 5 whole rosemary sprigs in a clean nylon stocking and knot the end (no I am not mad this works, you can also use cheese-cloth if you prefer)  

Jam jar preparation :

1. Preheat your oven to 100°C.
2. To sterilise the jam jars (bocals), wash them in hot soapy water, rinse and place on a tray in the oven while you make the jam.

Jam making :

• Squeeze the juice of one lemon and set aside.
• Next wash the apricots and cut them into quarters (or halves if you prefer larger pieces of fruit in your jam!) You should end up with approximately 3,4kg of chopped fruit.
• In a very large saucepan (preferably one for making soup) add the chopped apricots and cover with sugar. I often do this step the night before, the fruit will keep if well covered with the sugar.
• On the stove bring the apricots & sugar  to a rolling boil, now add the rosemary sack, and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and cook for at least another 5 minutes until the “GOUTTE TEST” works.
• Remove the jam jars from the oven and with a ladle fill each jam jar until approx. 1cm from the surface. Cover with plastic or screw tops. Leave to set for 3 days.

“GOUTTE TEST”: a goutte is a drop, and as I do not use pectin / certo to thicken the jam (the lemon juice helps with this), you need to cook it until, after dipping the wooden spoon in the boiling jam and then holding the spoon horizontally over the saucepan, the LAST  goutte / drop does not fall off the spoon but holds. You then know your jam will set.

NOTE  : jam is often made using the ratio of 1kg chopped fruit to 1kg of sugar. I find this produces a jam that is too sweet and as such have reduced the sugar to 0,8kg.