Jam making in the 30s

No, not the 1930s - in more than 30 degrees (centigrade) of heat! Must be barmy - not balmy.

We have had some wonderful cherries but it's the figs I've been waiting impatiently for - green figs - and now they are ripe and ready.

We had the opportunity the other day to raid a few trees. I'm so glad the people here are overwhelmed with land and fruit trees to the extent that they care little when the fruit is ready to be picked and just leave it to fall where it is. We carry lots of bags in the car to make the most of these opportunities.

And despite the sweltering heat we've had these past few days, when I got my treasure home, I set too to make my favourite jam and I'm going to share the recipe with you in case anyone else can get their hands on some delicious green figs. I suspect jam making is rather more appropriate to the summer weather in England just now - warms the kitchen up nicely. This is microwave jam, though, which is why I could just about bear to make it.

Recipe - measurements are not overly accurate, I'm afraid, but I've never had a poor result.

Fig and Orange Jam

About 1.2 kilos of figs - green ones work best for this recipe - remove stalk and base ends and then chop roughly and put into a large microwavable bowl.




Add about the same weight of sugar to the bowl and stir well to mascerate the figs.

  

Peel an orange and take the pith off (saying this always makes me giggle - I'm so puerile). Cut into small pieces and add to the fig mix.

Grate the zest of another orange into the mix, then add the juice only of this orange.










Add the juice of a lemon as well.

Then, I always add a handful of walnuts, broken into little pieces - I love the extra flavour.

You can also add some ginger or cinnamon if you fancy a spicy jam.

Then put into the microwave on full power. Initially, you'll need to give it around 10-12 minutes to reach boiling point, though I usually stop it every 6-7 minutes to give it a good stir.

All in all, today's jam took around 30 minutes or so in the microwave and the quantity reduced by about a quarter. Sometimes it takes a little longer, sometimes a little less. You can always test by putting a saucer in the freezer, then putting a little of the jam on this - it makes it quicker to identify if your jam has reached setting point.


In the meantime, make sure you've got enough sterile bottles or jars ready. I just underestimated by a small amount how much I'd made, but that will be gobbled up on some bread or stirred into a Greek yogurt very quickly at some point today.

And there it is - I made one lot yesterday and another lot today and even if the temperature reaches 40 degrees, if I find another tree of figs, I'll be making this jam again. It is yummy.