Thursday 2 July 2009

It's half past 10 on a hot sultry evening ...

... and I'm sweating in the kitchen making gooseberry and elderflower jam .... am I mad?

Tomorrow it's 3-fruit marmalade that will be on the go ...

6 comments:

  1. Gooseberry and elderflower jam? Would you mind posting the recipe?

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  2. Use gooseberries that are firm and slighty under-ripe.

    4.5 lb gooseberries; 6 lb sugar; 1.5 pints water; 12 heads of elderflowers* (see note).

    Top and tail the fruit - best done with a pair of scissors. Wash and put into saucepan with the water. Bring to boil and allow to simmer until fruit is soft. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

    At this stage add the elderflowers - you can draw the heads through the jam or put them in a muslin bag and add to the boiling mix. Test the flavour.

    Boil until seting point is reached. Put into warmed jars and seal.

    *Note: by this time of the year there are no elderflower heads remaining. I used approx 2 tablespoons of neat (home-made) elderflower cordial instead - its sugar content allowed the extra liquid to add to the set.

    There's real alchemy as the jam sets - the green mush turns a deep red and looks wonderful!

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  3. Thanks!
    We still have some elderflower heads in the woods, so timing is perfect.
    But did you really mean to use a third more sugar than fruit? I usually only ever use half the weight of the fruit in sugar.

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  4. Know how fortunate you are to have gooseberries and elder-flowers? Asks one who has lived in the US South for decades.

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  5. Erica - sugar is as the recipe gives it. I used a little less since I was adding elderflower cordial with a high sugar content. Has turned out fine.

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