I love apples. Apple pie. Apple Crisp. Apple Fritters. Baked Apples. Apple slices with peanut butter. Gorgonzola Apple Walnut salad. Waldorf salad.
Out of hand, an apple polished up on your jeans, eaten in the garden on a crisp fall day.
When I found this recipe somewhere on the web years ago, I was thrilled to have a way to enjoy apples in jam form. This sweet, caramel flavored, traditional style jam (firm set) is not only wonderful on toast, but warmed and spread between layers of yellow cake? Divine. Or spooned into mini tarts. Mmmm. Oh, fill cheddar thumbprint cookies with this jam. So unexpected.
Or back to the grilled cheese sandwich (you're going to think I'm obsessed) - try sharp cheddar and apple pie jam on multi grain bread. Slip in some thin slices of apple, too.
This is a great jam to practice using commercial pectin. It's easy as - well - pie!
To avoid fruit float, be very mindful of the timing. One minute means sixty seconds. At a BOIL YOU CAN'T STIR DOWN. That's seriously boiling. Sixty seconds. No more. Fruit float is often caused by over processing, and that's the trickiest part of this recipe.
I've got a dozen tickets to give away to the first three comments from local DC folks (four tickets each.)
(I'll also be at Strosnider's Hardware Store in Bethesda on Saturday. The two sessions have sold out, but I'm delighted to report we're discussing a series of canning demonstrations for 2011.)
Apple Pie Jam
Makes 6 half pints
About 8-10 mixed firm crisp apples
2 Tbls lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I use Ceylon cinnamon in this recipe)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 box pectin
4 c white sugar
1 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp butter
Peel and finely dice the apples. Pack them firmly into a 4 cup measure.
Add water in between all the apple pieces to fill to 4 cups.
Put the apples, water, lemon juice and spices in the preserving pan and sprinkle the pectin over the fruit. Stir well
Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
Add both sugars, stir well and bring back up to a full rolling boil for EXACTLY one minute. Do not stop stirring.
Remove from heat. Stir in the pinch of butter to reduce the foam. Skim off any foam that remains.
Ladle into hot, clean jars leaving 1/4" headspace.
Wipe the jar rims and threads.
Cover with lid and ring.
Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.
 |
| It was one of those days in the kitchen. |
17 comments:
This sounds so delicious, I just might have to make a batch.
I SO wish I was going to be in Washington this weekend to attend your demos! I would clap the loudest, too!!
First summer of canning adventures and I have not seen this type of pie filling recipe in my recipe travels. Will definitely have to try it out within the next week or two. And I am local to DC and would love to visit the Home Show.
YUM. I think I just found my first Christmas gift canning project.
Do you know of any places within driving distance to pick your own apples?
Oooo, looks like we need to schedule another canning day! This will be a hit around here, for sure. Any recommendations for varieties particularly suited for this?
(I'm not local enough to DC to make the trip...)
The best apple varieties for this jam are the crisp, tart ones that hold their shape.
You are my culinary heroine!
This indeed sounds like "the best of fall". I have homemade apple jelly I made to use instead of pectin. May I substitute a jar of that? Wish I could come to the show!
This sounds great! So much better than apple jelly, which often tastes like sugar-on-toast. I was wondering about a pumpkin pie jam. Would that be possible?
-Melanie
yum! i have lots of granies in the orchard that I was searching for a new recipe for :)
Unfortunately, pumpkin is one of the foods that just cannot be canned safely.
We're on the same wavelength! I was just mentioning in my blog that I was looking for an apple pie jam recipe, and I found the super-small canning jars I was looking for last night. Can't wait to try this one!
Hi Liz, Yes, you can use your pectin!
Erin, for Pick Your Own, check out this website http://www.pickyourown.org/
Can you avoid the fruit float with this as one would with strawberry jam, i.e., by allowing it to sit off the heat (I wait ten minutes, but have heard people say they leave it for 30 minutes), stirring occasionally, before ladling into the hot jars?
I'm sure you could allow the fruit to sink by resting the jam. But I hate leaving jam open on the counter. I like to get it in the jars and in the processor.
I found a very similar, if not identical, recipe online last fall. I had a surplus of apples when the farmer took the top off of my bushel of apples and filled it, too. This recipe is so easy and absolutely delicious. It's also really pretty with the apple cubes floating in the jam.
Post a Comment