Strawberry & apple jam

At the Summer preserves course we also learnt how to make strawberry & apple jam. As strawberries has a very low natural content of pectin, the addition of apples in the strawberry jam is used purely for gelling purpose together with the high level of sugar addition.

It is possible for make a strawberry jam on it´s own using gelling powder, and here you can also adjust the sugar addition to your preference. I really love this Midsummer jam made from strawberry with elder flowers.

Strawberry & apple jam: 8-10 glasses

• 1 kg small strawberries (just ripe) - washed and stem removed
• 1 large lemon - the juice
• 450 g cooking apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 100 ml water
• 1400 g sugar

1. Place the apple slices in a separate cooking pan together with the water part.
2. Cover the pan with a lid and cook the apple over low heat, until the apples is quiet soft and pulpy, should look like apple mash (approx 10 minutes).
3. Sieve the apple pulp, there should be around 340 g in total.
4. Add the strawberries and the lemon juice in a large jam. Bring the content to the boil, let the fruit simmer gently until tender, approx 15 minutes.
5. Mash the strawberries.
6. Prepare the jam glasses either by heating up in the oven or adding boiling water to them.
7. Add the apple purée into the mashed strawberries and mix together to combine the fruit.
8. Add the sugar into the fruit mass and stir until it is dissolved.
9. Bring the jam to a rolling boil and boil hard until the setting point is reached. Stir the jam frequently.
10. Test of set after 5 minutes using the flake test.
11. When the setting point is reached, remove the pan from the heat and leave it to stand for 10 minutes. As the jam settles, push any scums from the surface of the pan to the side and remove it with a metal spoon. The purpose for the waiting step is well to build viscosity in jam, so the fruit pieces will be trapped inside the jam inside of be going to the top of jam.
12. Gently stir the jam after the resting time and pour it into the prepared glasses, fill the glasses up to the brim. Remove any scum for the surface of the jam using a tea spoon. Close the glass with a lid.
13. Leave the glass upright and disturbed to cool and set.
14. Store at ambient temperature.

Jelly bag and jam funnel - kitchen equipment 29

At my participation at the Summer preserves course I realized, that I needed to make a new investment in some more kitchen equipment, so I really could use the acquired skills from the course. It turned out, that I needed to get hold of a jelly bag and a jam funnel. So I went shopping on the interned for these kitchen tools.

The jelly bag you need, when you want to make jelly such as this red & black currant jelly. And the jam funnel is crucial for the filling up the jam jar to the very top without getting hot jam on neither your fingers nor outside the glass. Here I am speaking from experience :-)

Raspberry vinegar

At the Summer preserves course we also made a fruit vinegar in form of raspberry vinegar. It was quiet interesting for me to make a fruit vinegar with so much sugar inside. Our tutor did no recommend for us for mixing raspberry together with herbs such as rosemary, when making this vinegar.

Using other fruit for such fruit vinegar you should use soft fruit without skin, so here blackberry could be an option to make blackberry vinegar, which I try out in Autumn.

This vinegar can be used for salads, and could perhaps also combine well with goat cheese.

I have previously been making such fruit vinegar in my little kitchen such as this raspberry vingear with elder flower.

Raspberry vinegar: - 6-8 bottles

• 450 g raspberries
• 600 ml white wine vinegar
• 450 g sugar per 600 ml vinegar liquid

1. Place the raspberries in a bowl and pour over the vinegar.
2. Cover the bowl and leave it to stand for 3-5 days, stirring it a least once per day with a wooden, plastic or silicon spoon.
3. After 3-5 days infusion mash the fruit with a a wooden, plastic or silicon spoon.
4. Strain the mashed vinegar liquid through a sieve lined with muslin or use a jelly bag. Let is drain freely without pushing it to obtain a clear vinegar.
5. Measure the liquid. For every 600 ml liquid weigh out 450 g sugar.
6. Pour the liquid into a cooking pan and dissolve the sugar. Bring the vinegar to the boil.
7. Pour the vinegar into bottles and seal.
8. Store at ambient temperature.
9. Use for salads.

Red & black currant jelly

The Summer preserves course started by making a jelly of red and black currant. These two fruits are very rich in pectin by nature, so a jelly can be created by having enough sugar inside.

It is the first time, that I have made a jelly by myself, but for sure it is not the last time I will make jelly.

According to the tutor at the course Vivien Lloyd, the ratio between red & black currant should not be 50:50, as the black currant is too dominant in flavour.

Red & black currant jelly: 8-10 glasses

• 1 kg red currant - washed and cleaned, the stalks removed
• 345 g black currant - washed & cleaned, the stalks removed
• 900 ml water
• 450 g sugar per 600 ml juice

1. Place the fruit and water in large cooking pan. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, and let the fruit simmer gently for 20 minutes.
2. Mash the content of the pan, so the fruit breaks.
3. Place a jelly bag suspended over a large bowl.
4. Pour the mashed fruit/water into the jelly bag.
5. Leave until, the bag has stopped dripping. Alternative night over.
6. Prepared the jelly glasses. I add boiling water to the glasses, while other will heat the glasses in the oven at 120 minutes.
7. Measure the amount of fruit juice and weight out 450 g sugar per 600 ml juice.
8. Pour the fruit into large cooking pan and heat up the juice to the boil.
9. Add in the (pre-heasted) sugar, Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
10. Bring the jelly mixture to a rolling boil (the jelly mixture has a lot of boiling foam on top).
11. Let it boil for 4 minute as starting point.
12. Test for a set after 4 minutes using the flake test (how the jelly is dripping from the cooking spoon). This is tricky, otherwise set, if the temperature is 104'C.
13. When the the texture is right, remove the cooking pan from the heat. Start right away to remove any scum from the surface of the jelly, using a large metal spoon.
14. Pour the jelly into glass jars, fill the jar to the top. Again remove any scum from the surface using a tea spoon.
15. Seal the jar with a lid.
16. Leave the glass upright and undisturbed to set.
17. Store at ambient temperature. 

Cherries in rum

This week-end the annual festival of Danish cherries (kirsebærfestival takes place in Kertiminde. So in order to celebrate the wonderful Danishes cherries, I hereby share a recipe on cherries in rum with you. The cherries should stores for around three months, so they will be ready for the use together with the classic Danish Christmas dessert of ris a la mande, another option could be serve these cherries together with white chocolate panna cotta.

At the course in Summer Preserves, the tutor Vivien Lloyd showed us how to make cherries in brandy. However, as I am not to keen on brandy, I decided to exchange the brandy as alcohol part with rum instead of. So here is my version of (Danish) cherries of rum.

Cherries in rum: - 1 portion/glass

• 250 g cherries - washed & dried
• 100 g sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 allspice berries
• 300 ml white rum

1. Remove the stalks from the cherries and de-stone them.
2. Place the cherries in 0.75 l storage glass/jar
3. Add in the sugar, cinnamon stick and allspice berries.
4. Pour the rum on top.
5. Close the glass/jar.
6. Agitate the glass daily, until the sugar is dissolved.
7. Store for minimum 3 months.
8. Can be used as dessert sauce for ris a la mande or other dessert.

Summer Preserves at the WI Cookery School

Mid June I participated in another course at Women Institute (previously courses have been afternoon tea course & Christmas afternoon tea course), this time on Summer Preserves with Vivien Lloyd as tutor. She is a great tutor, who was great in answering my many questions in relations to the many different types of Summer preserves. I was really dragging on her experience to see using your own eyes to see, when the jam has the right consistency for gelling in the jam glass or texture for a chutney. So I have learned to make jam without addition of pectin powder, but using the pectin naturally present in the fruit. However, using the natural present pectin alone from the fruit means, that the sugar content has to be very high to get a gelling.

As usual the atmosphere at the Denman College is fantastic :-) All I meet of the other participants were very open and very friendly, they really wanted to meet new people. Upon arrival I went directly to the bar area after dropping my suitcase in my room, so I could meet all the participants over a cup of tea followed by a glass or two of wine. During the various meals you could easily sit at different tables talking and meeting some new people.

The course price includes staying in a room, all meals, tea breaks, tuition and final all the preserves, which you bake during the stay. So I do not find it to be a very expensive course.

Below you can see all my photos taken during the course. I will later share these recipes with you and as well my own modifications to the recipes. We were trying many different recipes on jams with either fruit or vegetable, fruit in brandy (or cherries in rum), cordial with herbs, gooseberry curd and chutney with rhubarb and ginger.

And as usual I combined this course at Denman with some days in London (tea & gin-shopping, visit to Beefeater, afternoon tea and buying some interesting cooking books).

Raspberry vinegar

Strawberry and apple jam

Red & black currant jelly

Herb scented cordial with geranium

Gooseberry curd

Tomato and chilli jam

Lillet Vive

I have been testing a recipe from a small recipe booklet for the use of the aperitif Lillet. And the weather here in Denmark has been nothing but sunshine since beginning of May, which is very unusual fir Denmark. So my mother and I have enjoyed this drink a couple of times in her garden during the these wonderful Danish Summer evenings :-)

Instead of using Lillet Blanc I have used Lillet Rose, and I did not have any strawberries. But the cocktail taste great anyway on a warm Summer evening :-)

Lillet Vive: - 1 drink:

• 6 cl Lille Rose
• 6 cl Fever Tree Indian Tonic
• Ice cubes
• Slices of cucumber
• Mint leaves

1. Add all the ingredients into a big tumbler glass.
2. Enjoy :-)