Owls and Orchids

Fig Tree full of fruit

“In fact, people who posses no magic at all can instill their home-cooked meals with love and security and health, transforming ingredients and bringing disparate people together as family and friends. There’s a reason that when opening one’s home to guests, the first thing you do is offer food and drink. Cooking is a kind of everyday magic.”
― Juliet Blackwell

We have a very ignored fig tree in the back garden. It’s been ignored because last year, the summer we moved here, the birds and fruit bats must have swallowed them whole since we didn’t catch sight of anything larger than a green marble.  This year the tree is loaded and we made Fig and Apple Jam. The recipe is called simply Fig Jam, but the apples have been added to add more bulk and flavour.  We also found some lovely lemons on our tree. The apples we bought and are organic.

One large bowl of ripe figs

Here is the delicious and easy recipe. (Recipe and instructions in blue)

1 1/2 pounds of figs

1 1/2 pounds apples

2 lemons (juice and rind)

2 pounds sugar

1.5 pounds of figs

1 1/2 pounds of apples

1.5 pounds apples

Method

Slice the figs, peel, core and finely slice apples.

1.5 pounds sliced figs

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1.5 pounds finely sliced apples

Slice the lemon and juice them. Reserve the liquid and finely slice the rind and any remaining flesh.

2 lemons

Finely sliced lemon (after juicing)

I used my trusty fine slicer to get the apples and lemon rind finely sliced.  Since the figs cook quickly this helps the mixture to cook more quickly without losing any flavour.

The trusty fine slicer n dicer

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Apples, figs, lemon juice and rind

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Put the figs, apples, lemon juice and rind into the pan and cook slowly until tender.

Then add the sugar and boil rapidly.

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Jam brought to boil

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Getting rid of the chunks

We prefer a smooth jam so we mashed a few large pieces of apple we missed. If you prefer a chunkier jam you can leave the apple pieces larger, just make sure they are very tender.

The sugar will dissolve immediately when added to the pan as the lemon juice and other fruit juices have already made a juice hot enough to dissolve the sugar.

Test for set after it has been boiling for about 15 minutes. (If you like it thicker you may want to cook it for a few minutes longer.

Ensure your jars are ready, sterilised and hot. The hot jam will crack a cool jar.

Fill jars carefully

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A small pan was easier to handle

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It is not considered advisable to allow figs to stand overnight with sugar, as fermentation sets in rapidly if figs are wet or ripe.

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Fig Jam anyone?

Make sure the jars are sealed as soon as they are filled so that a firm airtight seal is created. Jam will last as long as it takes people to eat it.

The finished batch, from start to finish, (our first time with this recipe) was one hour.

~                         ~We had to try some on toast. It is delicious!~

Breakfast delight

I managed to make this yesterday, after my bath rejuvenated me. I need to report that one jar of jam is almost finished. In our defense it was a small jar!

I hope you enjoy it.

Blessings,  Susan x

© Susan Jamieson 2014