Last year I made nectarine jam for the first time, adding apple and lemon verbena. It was really tasty, but this year my lemon verbena has not put on so much growth and after making my lemon verbena liqueur and saving some to dry for tea in winter, I was worried there wouldn’t be enough. So this year, instead of lemon verbena, I used some more of that precious jar of stem ginger my sister sent me. The result: delightful! But is it jam, or marmalade?….
Nectarine, Apple and Ginger Jam
- 1kg (2 lbs) prepared fruit – I used 2 apples, cored, peeled and finely chopped, and the rest nectarines, stones removed and chopped into small pieces
- 500g (1 lb) preserving sugar “2:1″ (high pectin content)
- 3 tbsps lemon juice
- 2 tbsp stem ginger syrup
- 75g stem ginger, chopped very finely
Put everything except the stem ginger pieces into a large preserving pan and leave to macerate for at least 2 hours, or even overnight. Put a plate in the fridge for your gelling test.
Boil up the jam for a good 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and mash with a potato masher when cool enough. (Be careful – hot jam burns!) Add the chopped ginger and return to the heat. Boil for a further 5 minutes. Now you can do your gelling test – drop a little jam onto your cold plate. If it’s ready it should gel within 30 seconds… if not, boil up again for a further 5 minutes, repeat the test.
Using a funnel, pour into your sterilized jam jars, right to the brim, and seal. Turn them upside down to create a vacuum. Leave to cool. After a couple of hours you can turn them right way up again, but leave the jam for another few hours until completely cold before moving again.
This is perfect for toast, which makes me wonder if that is how I should define the difference… jam for bread and marmalade for toast. I know citrus fruits are usually marmalade… but is that the difference in reality?
What do you think?
Reblogged this on My Blog paul.
😀
I’ve never made nectarine jam! What a marvelous treat! During the cold of winter a jar of this fabulous jam will scream summer!
It’s great on wholemeal toast, and I always make sure I’ve got some left in the depths of winter! I think you should try it! 😀
I’m not usually a fan of peach jam but your recipe is tempting. I make a marrow (or large zucchini) and ginger marmelade that I love so I think I might try this.
It’s a lovely summery taste Christina – I’m not sure if peaches would give the same result as you might want to peel peaches… The nectarine skins give a lovely colour and texture too.
This would be my choice! 🙂 Gelee – Marmelade – Konfitüre (in German) what is Jam like?
In German it is more complicated, and then there’s American English… I think jam is Marmelade. Konfitüre is with only one type of fruit. Gelee is “jelly” in British English, but “jelly” in America is simply jam (I think)! Right?! 😉
Have a nice weekend Uta!
Question: do you always flip your jars upside down to seal them? Do you ever boil them instead?
Never bothered boiling them – everyone seems to do it this way here. You just have to make sure your jars have been cleaned and sterilised properly. In England lots of people just put a little alcohol on the top surface in sterilised jars.
WHY WHY WHY are you making me hungry? 😛
Sorry Manu! You’ll have to get cooking! 😉
I think I do. 🙂
Give it a Special Name you come up with and leave Jam and Marmalade for those other producers!
Wow what flavor alcohol do you place on top lol Canners here in the states have a huge set of rules to live by so we do not die of botulism lol I do small amounts of freezer jam and things that can go in refig.. for a week or two by then they are gone I have no time for our kind of canning.
We put rum or brandy on I think! You don’t taste it though. The special name is a good idea – must put my thinking cap on! LOL!
lol you MUST and that kind of goodness on top I always heard would KILL ANYTHING lol well except my EX 🙂
Many things I like here. The jam itself of course but the no boiling mess sounds sweet. By the look of it, the cooking down, and the sugar content, I’d lean towards marmalade. But really who cares. We’ve got about 4 jars of jam going and we are back on homemade sourdough bread daily. I’m a poor candidate for gluten free on a regular basis!
I hadn’t thought about nectarine and apple. I wonder how peach and apple would do. I prefer nectarine but have a case a peaches coming. cheers… wendy
Peach jam must be delicious, and I bet ginger would go well with peaches too. I agree, I think it’s marmalade too, but what does it matter as long as it tastes good. 😉
What a delicious combination! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for commenting! Have a great weekend Elaine. 😀
Sounds great! I tried to find out what the difference between jam and marmelade is, but the internet confused me further. I always thought that marmalade was made of oranges or lemon and jelly is without seeds or fruit pieces. I’ll stick to that 😉
I’ll go with that too…. the simplest definition. I also tried to find the difference between Marmelade and Konfitüre…. thought I’d cracked it, but then the Dr Oetker recipe site confused me again! LOL!
🙂
Hi Cathy, this sounds inventive and I really like the addition of the stem ginger too, I expect the result is quite sophisticated.
The ginger adds zing! 😉 Great for toast in the winter!
Sounds amazing! What a combo! Jamalade?
Or Marmajam?…. 😉
A very nice combination, Cathy, and I do love ginger. Your post reminds me that I also want to make Nectarine jam while they’re available. I shall try your mix and make another batch with banana-nectarine-rhum – how’s that? 😉
Wow – sounds wonderful! Have never tried banana in jam. 😀
Oh Cathy, have you never heard of Creole Jam? That’s a truely blissful creation for those long, dark winter days. I’ll share it in a while 🙂
Look forward to that! 😀
I think this sounds very yummy.
I love the ginger in it, but nectarines do make wonderful jam whatever you add!
Yum! I love nectarine jam! I’ve never thought to put ginger or apples with it, however, and I think that would be divine! I will definitely try this! Years ago I made a nectarine-mango jam and it was wonderful…you have to be able to get mangoes cheaply, however, and that’s not usually the case.
Good mangoes are not easy to get here and it’s a matter of luck getting a tasty one. I bet the jam has a lovely consistency though. Hope you enjoy this one – I’m loving it and will have to ration myself if it’s to last through winter! 😀
Yum!!
Precisely! 😉