How To

How to Make Jam

Want to know how to make jam? Now’s the perfect time to learn – you could even host an at-home afternoon tea, whipping up some homemade scones with your DIY jam. Read on for our top tips.

‘Homemade raspberry jam is so delicious and so easy – you just need equal parts of raspberries and sugar and a watchful eye.’ says the team at BBC Good Food. ‘You could use other soft fruit too, such as strawberries, blackcurrants or a mixture.’

To make jam from home – specifically the one here – you will need three clean 300ml jars with lids.

Make Three Jars of Jam at Home

Click the link above and learn how to make not one, not two…but three homemade jars of jam. All you’ll need is 450g of raspberries, as fresh as you can get, and 450g of granulated sugar – yes, that’s really it, in terms of ingredients.

The BBC Good Food site has the full recipe and we guarantee you’ll have fun trying it out.

Make Strawberry Jam with Mary Berry

Ah, Mary Berry…the Queen of baking. The home baker uses ‘jam sugar’, instead of granulated sugar, which she says wasn’t around when she was little. Mary’s method is a simple one anyone will like – give it a go and have fun with Mary’s jam ‘ripple test’, which tells you when the jam is ready to come off the heat.

In sterilised jars, Mary says this jam will last for a full year – but you probably won’t want to wait as long as that to tuck in. Not when it’s as tasty as this homemade recipe.

Jam Making: Some Top Tips

Use the ripest fruit possible.
If you want to make plum, currant or gooseberry jam, be aware that these fruits will need to be lightly poached before you add your sugar into your pan.
Make sure your jam reaches 104.5 degrees C. This is its setting point. You can tell it has got to this stage when the frothy, fast water looks more relaxed. The surface will look glossy, the mixture will be thicker, and any tiny air bubbles will disappear.
It’s best to undercook jam, rather than overcook it. Runny jam can always be heated up again, if needs be.
Tuck in, as soon as you’re ready, and once the jam is cool enough.

Where are you going to spread your jam? We love it on toast, but it’s also perfect with those scones for afternoon tea we mentioned before. You could also use it inside homemade cream cakes – or you could mix it with peanut butter, like our friends across the pond do, for an all-American treat.

Want some more top tips like these? Stay tuned on our blog for more cooking and home baking-related content.

Until next time…