Boysenberry Jam

Boysenberry Jam

Jam is one of the best ways to save the taste of summer for later. My mom always made a lot of fruit jams. It might not be the cheapest way, but by far the most flavorful. And by making your own you know what's in it.

Makes about 1 liter.

Ingredients:

• 1000 g boysenberries
• 725 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Set aside approximately ¼ of the berries in the refrigerator. Combine the remaining berries and  sugar in a large bowl, and set them aside to macerate overnight in the fridge.

Next morning the berries has released their juice and some of the sugar has dissolved. When you do this, you don't have to add any water. (By adding water, you just have to evaporate it again by boiling the jam for longer time and this will have a negative effect on the flavors in your jam. 

Put the berries, lemon juice and sugar into a saucepan over medium heat. Stir gently until all the sugar has dissolved.

Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring only to prevent sticking or burning.

After the mixture has thickened a bit, add the remaining berries. This will give the jam more texture and whole berries in the jam.

Boil the jam to your preferred consistency, skim the stiff foam off the top, while the jam cooks. Test the thickness by putting jam on a very cold spoon, and if the jam is not running or running very slowly, the jam has the right thickness.

Scald the jars and lids with boiling water. Be careful not to touch the inside. Use tongs to handle jars and lids. Fill jars while still hot. 

Pour the hot jam into hot, scalded jars and seal with scalded lids. See National Center for Home Food Preservation for additional information on safe food preservation.

Enjoy!

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

You can buy strawberry syrup in a lot of stores, but you really don't know what's in it. So why not make it yourself? It is super easy to make, and not labour intensive at all. Right now   strawberries are in season, which means you’ll find fairly cheap berries at the market. I find the best, freshest and cheapest strawberries at the farmers market, but some places you can go pick your own at strawberry fields. Beside the taste, the best thing about homemade syrup is you knowing what goes into your syrup, in this case just three ingredients, all natural, nothing artificial.  I keep my syrup in the refrigerator, and it will keep for weeks. Well, in my house it will be gone long before it would have expired.

This strawberry syrup is great for adding to a cocktails, mocktails, on waffles or ice cream. You can use it for almost everything that calls for a little sweet strawberry.

In Denmark you can buy so many different syrups in almost every store. Growing up we had my moms homemade syrups. We would get a tall glass of water with a sprinkle of syrup in, instead of getting soda or juices. I don't know if it was intended, but the syrups were a good way to control the amount of sugar we got during the day.  

makes about 1 liter

Ingredients:

• 1000 g strawberries
• 500 ml water
• 500 g sugar

Directions:

Rinse the berries clean and remove the stems. Slice large strawberries into smaller pieces. Place the strawberry, sugar and water in a  saucepan.Slowly bring it to a boil. Reduce to a  simmer and let the strawberries cook for about 20 minutes. Skim the stiff foam off the top, while the strawberries are simmering.

Now the strawberries will have lost their vibrant color and the syrup has a deep pink/red color.  Remove from heat, and strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids.

Scald the bottle with boiling water. While the syrup and bottle are still hot, pour syrup into the it, seal and refrigerate.for up to 2 weeks. 

Enjoy!

Apricot Jam

Apricot Jam

The month of May is apricot season in California. I have so many apricots on my tree that it's impossible to eat them all. My dog is doing all he can to eat all the apricots on the ground, he loves the endless supply,  crazy dog.

I made this great jam trying to savor the delicate taste of apricots. And I think this is the way to go. I need to make more, and the next batch is going in the freezer, to extend the shelf life. I like that I only need 4 ingredients, and the clean delicate taste of apricots is to die for.

Ingredients:

• 900 g fresh whole apricots, washed pitted and cut in half (use just-ripe, unblemished fruit)
• 120 ml water
• 340 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Boil the apricots in water until soft, 6-8 minutes. Puree in a blender (be careful with hot fluids in a blender, the lid might pop off) or an immersion blender, and blend until smooth. Bring fruit puree to a boil, add the sugar and lemon juice and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the fruit reaches the desired thickness, about 7-8 minutes. 

Scald the jars and lids with boiling water. Be careful not to touch the inside. Use tongs to handle jars and lids. Fill jars while still hot. I rinse the scalded jars and lids in atamon (Sodium benzoate) a food preservative, for better self life.

Remove fruit from heat and skim off any foam that may have formed. Pour the hot jam into hot, scalded jars and seal with scalded lids. See National Center for Home Food Preservation for additional information on safe food preservation.

Serve apricot jam with your favorite bread or on ice cream.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Abrikosmarmelade

Ingredienser:

• 900 g friske abrikoser, vaskede, udstenede og delt i halve (Anvend kun netop modne og ikke stødte frugter)
• 120 ml vand
• 340 g sukker
• 1 spsk friskpresset citronsaft

Fremgangsmåde:

Kog abrikoserne sammen med vandet indtil abrikoserne er møre, ca. 6-8 minutter.  Blend abrikoserne med en stavblender, eller i en rigtig blender indtil du har en homogen masse. Pas på med at blende varme væsker i en blender, da låget kan hoppe af.  Kog pureen op og tilsæt sukker og citronsaft. Kog marmeladen til den får den ønskede konsistens, ca. 7-8 minutter.

Skold glas og låg, og skyld dem med atamon. Fyld glassene mens de og marmeladen stadig er meget varme. 

Fjerne evt. skum der er dannet på marmeladen, inden den hældes på glas. Luk glassene tæt, og lad dem køle helt af.

Server abrikosmarmeladen på dit favorit brød  eller som sauce på is.

Velbekomme!