Apple Jam

For the final day of Blogging Marathon Week 2, I wanted to make something sweet. Jams are great to slather on bread slices. When thinking of what jam to make, I saw the sweet and cute apples sitting in my fruit basket. So I decided upon apple jam. Jam making is very easy and it involves very less number of ingredients. For this jam, it is apple, sugar and citric acid. Citric acid helps in avoiding crystallization of sugar during the process of jam making. The colour was little dull and so I added a few drops of lemon yellow colour to make it more appealing. To test the consistency of jam, take a teaspoon of jam on a cold plate and tilt the plate. If the jam doesn't run, then jam has reached the correct consistency. Always sterilize the bottle before transferring the hot jam into it. The perfect jam doesn't have air bubbles locked in. From the picture you can see that this jam is not perfect because it has a lots of air bubbles. But it tasted great.

Ingredients:

Apple-1/2kg

Sugar-2cups

Citric Acid-1/2tsp

Lemon Yellow Food Colour-a few drops

Procedure:

1. Peel, core and slice the apples into small pieces.

2. Add 1/2cup of water and bring it to boil.

3. Cover and cook on low flame until the pieces are soft.

4. Grind it to a smooth puree.

5. Add the sugar, apple puree, citric acid and food colour in a heavy bottomed pan.

6. Heat it and when it comes to boil, keep on stirring until it starts thickening.

7. Keep a plate in the fridge. When the jam starts becoming shiny, take a teaspoon of the jam on to the cold plate and tilt. If it is still runny, then you need to keep the heat on until it reaches the correct consistency. The jam should not move on the plate and retain shape.

8. Boil water in a vessel. Place the bottle in the water and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.

9. Carefully remove the bottle and place it inverted on a plate until all the water is gone and the bottle becomes dry. Prepare this before the jam reaches the correct consistency because the hot jam should directly go into the bottle.

10. Pour the jam into the bottle and tap the bottle gently to release the bubbles.

11. Allow it to cool completely before closing the lid.