Nothing says a family adventure quite like cliffside berry picking! My mother-in-law needed a hand gathering azarole berries from her land to make jam. Between trying not to lose my footing on the slope and dodging the tree's sharp thorns, it was quite the experience. Today, I'm so excited to share the traditional way she makes her amazing azarole jam.
Vegan, nut free, soy free | 1kg | JAM
Ingredients:
- 2kg arazole
- Sugar
- 1-2 geranium leaves
- 1 lemon
Steps:
1.Check the fruits and discard any bad ones. Optionally you can remove the stems.
2.Wash them really well and place in a large pot with triple the amount of water (in this case I'm adding 6L of water for 3kg of fruit).
3.Boil for 1-2 hours, until the fruits have softened and the water becomes brown. If any foam appears on top on the pot, remove it.
4.Once it's ready, drain the juice carefully and measure it and add it into a pot.
5.Add equal amounts of sugar, the geranium leaves and boil on low, stirring constantly. This will take from 45-60minutes approximately.
6.In the meantime, you can sterilize your jars. They must be cleaned, before you add them and their lids in a preheated oven at 110 for 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can boil them in a large pot, with boiling water for 15 minutes.
7.Back to the jam, towards the end, remove the leaves and add the lemon juice.
8.Take a teaspoon of the jam, add it into a small bowl and place it into the fridge for 1-2 minutes. Then remove it and check if it has a jelly like consistency. If it does, then it's ready, if not boil it for few more minutes and test again.
9.Carefully fill the jars, close with the lid and turn them upside down until the jam cools down.
10.Store them in a dry and cool cupboard.
Enjoy!
Notes:
*Usually the amount of jam you get, is half of the amount of fruit, so in this case I got 1kg of jam.
*Remember the ratios, 1 part fruit - 3 parts water, then equal amounts of liquid and sugar.
*You can use half white sugar and half brown sugar.