Sweet, tart and fruity homemade jam. Do you have loads of gooseberries from your garden like me, and don´t know what to do with them, making jam is a great idea !
I see many other gooseberry jam recipes add lemon juice, this is optional if you want to do that, I am not sure what exact variety of Hinnonmaki I have growing, but mine tastes in between a red grape, a raspberry and a lemon, so its already quite tart but also very fruity, so I did not add any lemon juice at all, and the jam ended up so tasty! If your berries are not tart at all, you can of course add lemon juice to taste in the cooking process.
People in north America, white cane sugar is usually processed with bone char, using beet sugar will always ensure that is vegan. People in most of rest of the world, this is not an issue.
Makes about 1300 ml / 44 oz
Ingredients
- 1 kg fresh Hinnonmaki Gooseberries (2.2 lbs)
- 7.1 dl granulated sugar (3 cups)
What you will need
- 1 strainer
- 1 bowl
- 1 stick blender
- 1 pot and spoon to stir
- Sterilized glass jars as needed
Instructions
Sterilizing jars and timing
- The jars should be clean, sterilized and hot when the jam is finished, so prepare them while the jam is cooking.
- Wash your glass jars in hot soap.
- Boil the rubber closures for a few minutes separately.
- Put the glass jars (without the rubber) in the oven on 140°c (280°F) and bake until dry.
- Take out just before the jam is ready, so the containers are hot and the jam is hot, this will prevent the glass from breaking when pouring the hot jam into them.
- Sterilizing is important to keep your jam from spoiling. If sterilized well a jam can keep good unopened for about 6 months. After opening if should be stored in the fridge.
Jam
- Pick berries, take off stems and flowers, wash and drain well.
- Add to a bowl, with a stick blender blend the berries coarsely to a thick smoothie like texture, but not smooth.
- Add to a pot with the sugar and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer on medium low for about 20-25 minutes, stirring often. Cooking time can vary a lot depending on how vigorously it boils / simmers, try to maintain a low simmer, to prevent the sugar from burning.
- To test if its ready, add a spoonful of hot jam to a plate, put in the fridge to cool down, take out, if the jam feels thicker on the plate and ripples a bit when pulling a finger through it, then its ready.
- Add the jam to the sterilized, hot and dry glass jars, fill them but leaving about 2-3 cm / 1 inch space from the top of the lid. Tap gently to remove potential trapped airbubbles. Avoid spilling jam on the rim on the outside and wipe off any jam that has spilled, this will keep the jam from spoiling over time.
- Cover jars with the lid but not completely close them, and let cool for about 5 minutes, then seal the jars shut while still hot.
- Store up to 6 months, and keep refrigerated once opened. It´s great on toasted bread, pancakes, waffles, cakes or any desserts.
Enjoy !
