I think a homemade jam makes any cake or scone taste incredible and I often will go that extra mile when making a cake for a friend or loved one. This Raspberry Jam Recipe is my go to recipe and one that I repeat often. It is so simple but does include very hot liquid so I’ve included lots of tips to make the process as easy as possible.
I often also use frozen raspberries from the supermarket (especially off season) and they work just as well as fresh, you don’t even need to defrost them first.
1kg raspberries
1kg jam sugar (this has pectin added already)
Equipment you’ll need:
Large saucepan
Large wooden spoon
Oven gloves
Small plate
Sieve
Medium sized bowl/jam jars
Notes before you start: If you are giving this jam away or you expect to keep it for a while, then put your jars through a hot dishwasher to disinfect them before you start. My jam never stays around that long so I just use a big glass bowl!
This recipe requires you to stand at the stove for 15-20 minutes and constantly stir, so I would get everything ready before you start. Also – boiling jam mixture is VERY hot, so please be careful.
Put your raspberries and jam sugar into the large saucepan and mix thoroughly. Turn the heat up to high and keep gently stirring as the raspberry mixture heats up. You’ll notice as the jam comes to boiling, that a foamy texture forms on the surface – this is normal.
Keep gently stirring as the mixture starts rapidly boiling (this could take 10 minutes if you are using frozen raspberries). Once the mixture begins rapidly boiling and bubbling, it may spit little bits of boiling hot jam from the saucepan – this is where I begin to use oven gloves to hold the spoon so that I don’t burn my hand!
If you stop stirring, the bottom of the mixture is likely to burn so you will need to keep stirring throughout.
Once the mixture reaches rapid boiling, it will take about five minutes until the jam is about done and as you are stirring, keep a close eye on the foamy texture on the top of the jam – you will notice this begin to disappear. Once the foamy texture has gone (the bubbling sound also becomes louder), dribble a little of the jam mixture onto the small plate and let it cool a little (30 seconds). Then using your finger or a spoon, move the jam on the plate and see if it is set. If it is still runny, keep boiling for one more minute. If it has set, take the jam off the heat.
I tend to use jam for cakes so I like to sieve some of the seeds out. To do this, just carefully tip half the mixture through the sieve into a bowl and using the wooden spoon, push the jam through the sieve. Then stir in the remaining jam into the seed free jam and mix together. If using jam jars, you can then pour into the jam jars. Ignore this step if you want all the seeds in the jam.
