Ginger Jam Recipes

GINGER MARMALADE

Steps:

• Divide the ginger in half, and chop half into cubes; shred the other half with a box grater or in a food processor using the shredding blade. Total ginger should equal 3 cups. Place the ginger into a large saucepan with water over medium heat, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot, and simmer the ginger until tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add more water if needed to keep mixture from drying out. Pour the cooked ginger into a fine-mesh strainer, drain, and retain 1/2 cup of the ginger-flavored water. Place the cooked ginger in a bowl with the retained liquid, and cool at least 4 hours or overnight in refrigerator.
• When ginger is thoroughly cooled, place into a large, heavy-bottomed pot, and stir in the sugar; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the pouch of liquid pectin, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 7 more minutes, skimming foam from top of marmalade.
• Sterilize the canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Pack the marmalade into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids, and screw on rings.
• Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then carefully lower the jars into the pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary until the water level is at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a full boil, cover the pot, and process for 15 minutes.
• Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Store in a cool, dark area.

PUMPKIN GINGER JAM

Steps:

• Stir pumpkin and sugar together in a saucepan. Cover and let stand, 8 hours to overnight.
• Place unpeeled lemon wedges in a food processor; puree until smooth.
• Place pumpkin and sugar mixture in the saucepan over high heat. Stir in lemon and ginger. Bring to a rolling boil; cook, stirring frequently, until pumpkin is translucent but still holds its shape, about 30 minutes. Mash to desired consistency.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add jars and lids and boil for 5 minutes. Pack pumpkin mixture into hot jars and cover with lids. Let cool, then refrigerate and use within a month.

SIMPLE GINGER MARMALADE (GINGER JAM)

Steps:

• First, peel and slice the ginger into long, thin slices trying to avoid any pieces that are very hard and fibrous.
• Add the ginger and enough water to fully submerge it to a saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce to a gentle simmer for 45 minutes. This will help to reduce the pungent, strong flavor of ginger.
• Drain the water (note: you can keep it and drink it or freeze in ice cubes and add to smoothies, lemonade, or iced tea).
• Next, mix the 1 cup of water with the cane sugar and powdered pectin.
• Then pour the mixture over the ginger in the pot and boil for another 25 minutes over medium heat.
• Transfer to a sterilized jar (process in notes) and allow it to cool down (it will continue to thicken as it cools), then cover and store.

GINGER JAM

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
• Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until very thick, 30-45 minutes.
• Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
• Refrigerate. Warm to room temp before serving.

PEAR & GINGER JAM

Steps:

• Peel and chop the pears and apples into small chunks. Place a couple of tea plates in the freezer for later.
• Place half the pears and all of the apples into a preserving pan, with just enough water to cover the fruit, and simmer gently until soft and mushy (about 40 mins)
• Remove from the heat, add the sugar, pectin, ginger, lemon juice and zest, also add the rest of the chopped pears. Put the pan back on the heat and dissolve sugar gently.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, bring to the boil, and boil rapidly for about 15 minutes, or until setting point has been reached. If you are getting a scum on top, put a nob of butter in at this stage.
• To check if the jam has set, put a small amount on the cold tea plate, then push gently with the spoon, the jam should wrinkle.
• Pour into sterilised jars.

MARROW & GINGER JAM

Steps:

• Pare the zest from the lemons with a peeler, then juice them, keeping the juice, shells and any pips. Tie the shells and pips into a muslin bag. Put the marrow into a preserving pan with 2 tbsp of the lemon juice, then cook on a medium heat, stirring often, until the pieces are turning translucent and soft but not mushy. Bubble off any juices before stirring in the sugar, the rest of the juice, the zest, ginger and the muslin bag. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
• Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 10-15 mins or until the marrow has softened completely and the jam has reached setting point (see Tips, below). Pot the jam into warm jars (see below). The flavour of the jam will mature and intensify over the next few months, so tuck it away in a dark, cool place.

PEAR GINGER JAM

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine the pears, fresh ginger, sugar and juice from one lemon.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat them reduce the heat to medium. As you cook the jam for 10-15 minutes, it will thicken.
• Use a potato masher to help break down the fruit if necessary. If you want to make more of a sauce similar to an applesauce, you could puree the jam before canning it.
• When the jam is the consistency you prefer, ladle it into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
• Process the jars for 10 minutes in a water bath canner (adjust for your altitude as needed). Or you could store the jam in the refrigerator for about a month.

PEAR AND GINGER JAM

Steps:

• Place a couple of saucers into the freezer and sterilise your jars; I do this by washing them in hot, soapy water, rinsing well then placing the jars, and their lids, in the oven on a low heat until needed.
• Place the pears, apples, lemon zest and juice, ginger and water into a deep, heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring up to a simmer and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, until the fruit is tender.
• Stir in the sugar and stem ginger and heat gently until the sugar has completely dissolved.
• Turn up the heat and cook at a rapid boil for about 10 minutes, or until it reaches 105C on a thermometer; stir regularly to prevent it from catching on the bottom.
• Remove from the heat and place a teaspoonful of the jam on one of the cold saucers; pop it in the fridge for a minute then push at it with a finger, if the surface of the jam wrinkles then it is ready; if not then return the pan to a rapid boil for another five minutes then remove from the heat and check again.
• Allow the jam to cool for 5-10 minutes, then ladle it into hot sterilised jars, seal and allow to cool. Once opened keep refrigerated.

MELON & VANILLA JAM

Steps:

• Deseed, remove the skin and cut the melon into 1 - 2 cm size cubes. Place in a bowl and mix in the sugar so all the melon is coated. Leave the melon to stand for around 4 - 5 hours, stirring every so often.
• After at least 4 hours the juice of the melon will have been drawn out. Pour the juice into a pan and reserve the melon chunks in a bowl.
• Begin to heat the melon juice in the pan along with the vanilla pod that has been cut in half lengthways and the seeds scraped out. Bring to a simmer and reduce by around half. Add the melon chunks to the juice and bring to a rolling boil.
• Prepare a hot water bath and carefully place the cleaned jars in it. Bring to a simmer and then remove the jars when ready to fill.
• Boil the melon jam until it reaches 105°C / 221°F. Stir in the liquid pectin or follow the instructions for doing so and perform a wrinkle test to check the jams set. Boil for another 5 minutes if the setpoint hasn't been reached and test again.
• Once the jam has reached setting point ladle into the still-hot jars. Add the lids and bands and screw on until just tight. Process the jars in the boiling water bath submerged by at least 1 inch for 10 minutes, starting the timer when the bath reaches a boil.
• After 10 minutes remove from the heat, allow the jars to stand in the boiling water bath for 5 minutes and then lift out with jar tongs. Allow to cool to completely.

PEAR JAM (WITHOUT PECTIN)

Steps:

• Wash two jars (250 ml each) thoroughly with soapy water. Then sterilize jars in boiling water for 8 minutes. Also, boil the metal lids. Alternately, you can place washed jars while they are still wet in the baking tray. And roast jars in a preheated oven (160-180 C) for 15 minutes.Dry on a clean towel. Let air dry naturally.
• Chop the pear into small bits and coat the pear simultaneously with lemon to avoid browning. Protip: The easiest way to do this is keep lemon juice in a large bowl. Mix everytime you add freshly chopped pears in the bowl for even coating.
• Add sugar and spice, mix well. Rest pears in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. Protip: This step helps to keep the pear bits intact and save them from turning into a sauce.
• After resting, cook the jam for 15 minutes on medium-low heat until soft and translucent.
• Mash the pears slightly for a pulpy jam or blend it for a smooth consistency. Stir frequently to avoid the caramelization of sugar.
• When you see jam turns glossy and sheet off from the spoon. It is ready. ( Watch video)
• Transfer hot jam to clean dry jars seal the lids and turn the jars upside down if storing jam in fridge or freezer. Let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours then transfer to fridge or freezer. Protip: Turning jars upside down creates a vacuum seal.
• If canning, follow the steps of sterilizing jars. Then follow the canning procedure of removing air bubbles and process in boiling water bath for 8 minutes. Let it sit in the bath for another 5 minutes after turning off the heat. Then remove to clean towels. Check seals after 12 hours and store any unsealed jars in the fridge.

PLUM AND GINGER JAM

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Halve the plums, remove the stone and place the plum halves into a large ceramic bowl. Save 10 to 12 plum stones and discard the rest.
• Sprinkle the plum halves with 4 tablespoons of the sugar.
• Cover with a tea cloth and put to one side for 2 hours at room temperature, or preferably overnight in the fridge if you have the time. After a few hours, you will see the sugar has melted and the plums have rendered up plenty of juice. When this happens it is time to make the jam.
• Place all the plums, the juices, the remaining sugar, and the ginger, if using, into a large, heavy-bottomed or preserving pan. Place over medium heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Raise the heat until the jam begins to bubble and boil the mixture for approximately 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes to avoid the sugars sticking to the sides of the pan.
• Put a clean saucer or tea plate into the freezer.
• Crack the shells of the pits and remove the tiny kernels inside.
• Place the kernels in a teacup and cover with boiling water for 1 minute.
• Strain the kernels; the skin should come away from the kernel easily. Reserve.
• After the jam has boiled for 10 minutes, take the saucer or plate from the freezer, take a small spoonful of the jam and place onto the saucer. Pop it into the fridge for 5 minutes. Push the edge of the jam on the saucer and if it "wrinkles" the jam is ready. If not, continue to boil on high heat. Repeat the jam setting test until the jam shows "wrinkles" when pushed.
• Once the jam is ready, turn off the heat but do not remove from burner. Leave it to stand for approximately 10 minutes.
• Take your hot, sterilized jam jars one by one and, using a jug and a funnel, carefully fill to the neck of the jar.
• Once all the jars are filled, divide the kernels between the jars.
• Cover the surface of the jam in the jar with a wax disc-this will help prevent mold forming during storage. Seal the jar with a tight-fitting lid or a cellophane disc secured with an elastic band. Leave to cool.