Homemade Jam with Mirabelles..

Hi everyone

It's been a while since my last blog post. I have been very busy, you know how life can be demanding. I am sure you can relate. However, I have so many things to share with you. Foodie, Travel diary, Gardening, Products etc.

Presently, I am on vacation in Europe and it's been awesome so far! I've been travelling to the North and South of France, Belgium, Germany. Did some camping as well; it was super! I will be sharing the photos and some of my exhilarating experiences with you in coming weeks.

I do enjoy cooking as you may already know,  so whenever I travel most of my meals are homemade, trying out different recipes. This vacation I have been eating out a lot due to long distance travelling, but whenever the opportunity arises I try my utmost best to prepare delicious, healthy meals at home. I am excited to share my recipes with you in the future.

I Come from the beautiful island of Saint Lucia where the cuisine is a combination of French, East Indian and British dishes, a real mixture of influences. Saint Lucian food is just packed with flavour. My cooking is all about the freshest ingredients and I pay attention to detail; presentation and taste is everything.

When preparing for my journey my suitcase is always packed with my homemade spices and seasoning, most importantly my homemade "onion and cayenne pepper relish" that's a must! Yummy! (More information on that product in due time)
Next week I will be sharing my mouth-watering Creole Fish stew recipe with you.

On vacation in France I try to take advantage of the fruit plum season and indulge in "confiture de mirabelle" just to savor that sweet taste. Mirabelles make excellent jam.

Today I decided to make my own Mirabelles jam. It was super simple and fun! No fancy equipment needed.

Ingredients:

I used 2 cups fruits (it's what I left after discarding spoilt ones)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder or 1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (grated)
1/2 teaspoon ginger (grated)

1/2 teaspoon Butter

How I made this delicious Jam:

-Wash plums and remove stalks. Cut the plums in half (vertically), then twist to open and remove the stone.
- In a deep pot add water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and bring to boil for 15 mins
- Add fruit, lemon juice and bring to the boil, stirring frequently.
-Reduce heat and simmer until the plums have softened, about 40 mins.
-Keep on low heat and add sugar. Stir continuously until sugar has dissolved.
- Add butter and stir to help reduce frothing. Turn up the heat and stir continuously until the mixture comes to a rapid boil.
-When the mixture starts to stick/set on the sides of the pan, the jam has reached setting point .
-Remove from heat and pour gently into clean, sterilised, warm jars. Check for air bubbles and remove. Seal while jars are warm.
-Allow to cool completely, then store.

 Serve the jam with toast, ice cream, pancakes, or simply with fresh bread. 

 Voila! enjoy

NB: You may add 2 tablespoons powdered pectin to your recipe. I did not use pectin in this recipe, instead I added lemon juice. Pectin is a naturally occurring substance in fruit that makes sweet preserves gel. However, some fruits are low in pectin and need added pectin in order to gel. You can buy commercial pectin, or you can make your own from citrus peels.

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Best Wishes  ✨✨💕