In fact, jam is a sweet product obtained by boiling fruit or berry puree. Often, from a mixture of two such purees, an assorted jam is formed, distinguished by a pleasant, sweet and sour taste. Delicious apple-plum jam looks like a dark brown, homogeneous mass, where the amount of sugar is 60 percent. If there is more sugar than required, add citric acid or apple cider vinegar to the mixture.
- Subtleties of preparing apple and plum jam for the winter
- Requirements for main ingredients
- How to properly prepare containers for the start of the process?
- How to make jam from plums and apples at home?
- Classic recipe
- In the oven
- In a slow cooker
- With pumpkin
- With garden pear
- With orange
- Thick jam
- Further storage of the finished product
Subtleties of preparing apple and plum jam for the winter
The jam will turn out rich and aromatic if you strictly follow the recipe. To avoid mistakes with grams, fruits are weighed after removing the seeds and skins. If you do not add water and increase the cooking time, the dish will turn out thick and sweet and will retain more vitamins intact.
Many people prefer to first grind fruits (berries) in a blender and pass them through a meat grinder, which leads to an increase in cooking time. It is better to first finely chop the fruit, boil it, and then pass it through a sieve. The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the products used.
Requirements for main ingredients
Plums and apples are chosen ripe or slightly unripe. If the fruit is only slightly crushed, nothing bad will happen. This will not affect the taste of the jam. You should not use rotten or moldy fruits, otherwise the dish will quickly spoil.
Attention! In overripe fruits, the amount of pectin is reduced, which makes the dish watery.
The seeds are removed from apples using a knife, and from plums they are removed by hand. It is advisable to wear gloves, as dark varieties of plums stain the skin of your hands.
How to properly prepare containers for the start of the process?
The jam does not require additional sterilization. It is enough to properly prepare the container, heat it in the oven, and then fill it. Glass jars are washed under running water using soda, salt or laundry soap. Then place on a baking sheet and place in a cold oven.
Turn it on to 120 degrees, wait until they heat up. Usually this takes about twenty minutes. Afterwards, carefully remove and pour out the jam. Plastic lids are permitted.
How to make jam from plums and apples at home?
Apples contain a lot of pectins, which bind products together. If you make jam from only apples, the taste of the dish will turn out bland. It will be much inferior to the same product consisting of mixed fruit purees. The coloring substances under the skin of plums give the dish a beautiful color, and the aroma depends on the type of ingredients chosen.
Usually jam is prepared in a wide container made of stainless steel or aluminum. First, put the fruit puree on medium heat, and when it boils, put it on low heat. Cooking time should not exceed thirty minutes, otherwise the color of the dish will darken greatly, and a large number of beneficial vitamins will be destroyed.
Classic recipe
For a kilogram of apples and plums you will need 1.2 kilograms of granulated sugar. The apples must be washed, pitted, placed in a bowl, covered with a lid and boiled until soft. Remove from heat, let cool, pass through a sieve.
Rinse the plums under water, remove the pits, place in a thick-bottomed bowl, add a little water and boil for a few minutes. Let cool. Rub through a sieve. Combine both purees, stir and place over medium heat, add sugar.
The readiness of the jam is determined as follows: drop a little mixture onto a glass surface and see whether it spreads or not. If it doesn’t spread and holds its shape after cooling, then the jam is ready.
It is poured into glass jars and closed with a lid. Store in a cool place.
In the oven
Wash the fruits, remove the seeds. Divide the plums into two parts and place on a baking sheet. Do the same with apples. Turn on the oven to 180 degrees, place a baking sheet with apples. Once they are soft, remove and let cool.Bake the plums at the same temperature and let cool.
Grind the baked fruits in a blender, place in a shallow, wide bowl and place over medium heat. As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat and add granulated sugar. Boil until the fruit changes color and the mixture becomes thick. Don't forget to remove the foam.
The number of ingredients is the same as in the classic recipe. Pour into jars and roll up with a machine or close with a nylon lid.
In a slow cooker
For a kilogram of sugar you will need 600 grams of apples and plums. Peel the apples, remove the seeds and finely chop the plums, also remove the seeds, chop and grind in a blender (meat grinder). Mix plum puree with apple slices, place on low heat and heat slightly. Add half of the prepared sugar.
Place the mixture in a multicooker, set for 15 minutes, turning on “start”. After a while, add the rest of the sugar, set the device to the “quenching” mode. The jam is cooked for two hours and fifteen minutes. When hot, pour into sterile jars, roll up and store in a cool place.
With pumpkin
For a kilogram of apples and plums, take 700 grams of pumpkin. The pumpkin is peeled, cut into small pieces, placed in a container and boiled until soft. Prepared apples and plums are also added there. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for another five minutes.
While hot, grind everything with a blender, put it on the stove, adding sugar. During the cooking process, remove the foam. Bring to the desired thickness, remove from heat and pour into prepared jars.
With garden pear
Take a kilogram of apples, pears and plums. You need 1.2 kilograms of sugar, and 50 grams of apple cider vinegar is also added. Fruits are washed, peeled (except for plums), cut and minced in a meat grinder.Pour into a saucepan and boil for seven minutes over medium heat.
When hot, pass through a fine sieve and put back on the stove, reducing the heat. As soon as the mixture is reduced by half, add sugar and vinegar. Cook for another 15 minutes, remove and pour into jars.
With orange
Orange adds additional flavor to the jam. According to the recipe, add a little water and cinnamon to a mixture of apples, plums and orange. Take 500 grams of apples and plums, one orange, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, a glass of brown sugar and a glass of water.
Peel and chop the apples and plums, pour in a glass of water and place in the multicooker bowl for 20 minutes in the “baking” mode. Grate the orange zest and squeeze out the juice. Once the fruit is cooked, add orange zest and juice, sugar and cinnamon.
Grind everything in a blender. Turn on the multicooker for 60 minutes, periodically open the lid and stir the mixture. The jam is ready.
Thick jam
To make the jam thick, do not use water in the recipe, and use a little more sugar (200 grams) than required in the recipe. The product itself is boiled until reduced in volume by half. This will take 40 minutes.
Further storage of the finished product
Preparing and storing jam is actually not difficult. If you take into account all the subtleties of preparation during preparation, then the finished product can be stored at plus twenty degrees.
Meanwhile, for general insurance, it is better to carefully seal jars of jam and put them in a cool cellar.