Blueberry Jam

Another blueberry sales in the local supermarket recently. It happened that I wanted to do a blueberry cake for my sister, so I bought many packs of them, and decided to make blueberry jam too!

The blueberry jam turned out to be really good with some sweetness and tartiness from both the lemon juice and blueberries. I felt that the sugar could have been reduced more.

Recipe for Blueberry Jam, adapted from Against All Grain.
(Makes approximately 550g jam)

Ingredients:
500g Fresh blueberries (4 packets)
130g Caster sugar (can reduce to 100g )
3 tbsp Fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Lemon zest

Method:

1. Wash your blueberries and dry them.
2. Place the blueberries in a medium sized sauce pan and crush them with a potato masher.

3. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

4. Stir frequently while the mixture boils for 15-20 minutes and it starts to thicken. 

5. Skim off any foam, then ladle the jam into a sterilized jar. Cover and leave it to cool completely before storing it the fridge.

Red Grapefruit Marmalade Jam

I bought red grapefruits and didn't know what else to do with it. So I decided I shall make grapefruit marmalade as X'mas presents for my family. I referenced this video in Youtube. Based on the video, I translated and modified it into a recipe.



Recipe for Red Grapefruit Marmalade Jam
Makes 4 bottles (approx. 280 ml each)

Ingredients:
3 Red grapefruit
1 Lemon, sliced
2 cups Water
300g Sugar

4 280ml jar, washed, cleaned and heated/boiled

Method:

Clean the grapefruits
1. In a heatproof bowl, placed the three grapefruit and add hot water into it. Let it steep for about 5 minutes.
2. Drain the water off.
3. Using a clean cloth or serviette, clean the grapefruit skin well. This is to remove the insecticle from the grapefruit skin.
 
Lemon water
4. Slice whole lemon.
5. Place in a pot with 2 cups of water.
6. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat. Let the lemon steep in the water.

Cut the grapefruit
7. Using a sharp knife, slice the skin of the grapefruit to into quarters and carefully peel off the skin.
8. Remove some of the pith (if it's too thick)

9. Then cut the skin thinly, then finely. Repeat for the rest of the skin, and the grapefruits.
 
10. Then cut out the grapefruit flesh. Repeat for the rest of flesh.
 
11. Carefully put the flesh and the overflowing juices and the skin into a large pot.
12. Drain out the lemon slices from the water, and pour into the cut grapefruits.
 
13. Ensure that there is sufficient water to cover all the grapefruit skin and pulp.
14. Let it steep overnight in the covered pot.


Boil the grapefruit
15. Heat the covered pot in low heat. Slowly let it simmer for an hour.
16. When the grapefruit skin has turned soft (breaks easily), add sugar spoon by spoon. Ensure that each spoon of sugar dissolves before adding another.
17. Let it boil for a few minutes, then turn down the heat again and stir it carefully. Repeat this once and turn off the heat.
18. Scoop them while hot into the prepared clean jar. Immediately close the lid.
19. When it cools, the jar lid will "pop" to indicate that it is air-tight.

As a gift
You can beautify the jar by adding colour wrapper to it, and present it as a gift. I made this as X'mas present and give away. I received very good feedback from my family members that it's not sweet and nice.

Notes:

1. The amount of sugar added is based on estimation and taste. Initially, I only weight 150g sugar, then I realised it didn't thicken, and it was bitter. So I added another 100g, then another 50g. The sweetness was just right to cover the bitterness of the grapefruit.
2. After boiling, my jam was still a bit watery. Do take note not to add too much water. However, after I refrigerate it, it thickens a bit, but still a little on the watery side. I use it as such.
3. It's important to heat the jar. You can either boil it in a pot, or heat it up in the oven. This is to sanitize the jar.
4. Consume it within a month. Keep it refrigerated in the fridge after opening.