Raspberry jam (seedless)

                                                                               


I tried making raspberry jam at home and believe me the taste was really amazing ! What really struck me to make this jam was the vibrant colour of this raspberry jam which was also matched by its vibrant taste.

I have prepared seedless version of jam.You can also prepare jam along with seeds,but the thing is,raspberry seeds are a little annoying to chew.More than tasting the fruit,i keep biting into the seeds.Therefore, I really really prefer the seedless version.It is a little tiring to seperate fruit pulp from seeds but you'll know it's worth all the effort once you taste it.

Lemon juice is added to a jam recipe,it eliminates the need of adding pectin altogether;since lemon has got plenty of pectin in it.Moreover,it also balances the sweetness of fruits beautifully.


          Some of the best  ways you can use the jam are like

• Make a jam smoothie: blend your favorite jam with milk, fresh fruit, and yoghurt.
• Serve marmalade & cream cheese on crackers.
• Liven up any boring original cheesecake with a dollop of jam on top of the cheesecake.
• Spread it between cake layers.
• Gently pour over ice cream for an extra treat.
• A simple pancake or waffle topping
• It makes great gifts - especially homemade!
• Served up some jam with some sliced-up local fruit; simple, but delicious.
• Serve a blob of jam in a bowl of oatmeal for a comforting snack.
• Into plain yogurt add jam for flavoring according to your taste.
• Stir jam into icing for a different and yummy cake topping.
• Fill doughnuts!
• Make jam-filled butter cookies.
• Make a simple Jam Tart! 
• Make a batch of surprise muffins,half-fill the muffin cups, put in a dob of jam, and then cover the jam with more muffin mix.

          Ingredients

• 400g  Raspberries(wash and clean)
• 400g  Sugar
• 2-3 tsp Lemon juice

          Method of preparation 

• If using frozen raspberries, tip them in a wide heavy bottom pan and leave aside till the raspberries are completely thawed and are at room temperature. 
• Keep a small plate in the freezer.
• If using fresh raspberries, start from the next step.
• Put the raspberries in a wide heavy bottom pan,mash them using the masher place the pan on a medium flame and stir continuously, cook until the fruit softens.
• Once the berries are heated,reduce the heat to low and work in batches to strain out the seeds.I usually ladle 2-3 scoops of berries onto my sieve at a time, push them through, scrape the seeds into a separate bowl, and then scoop on another batch of berries.In short: mash, heat, scoop, strain, scrape, repeat.You need to keep straining berries until you have seedless juice.
• Repeat this process until you have used up all the raspberries.Add the sugar and the lemon juice to the mixture and mix well.
• Then place the pan on a medium flame and stir continuously, cook till the mixture thickens a little,it takes about 15 -20 minutes.
• Take the pan off the flame.Remove the platter from the freezer and drop just a little jam on it.
• Put the plate back in the freezer for 2-3 minutes, and then use your finger to test the cooled jam consistency.
• If you draw a line in the jam with your finger, the jam should not be runny enough to fill the line back in.
• Also wrinkles are formed on the surface of the jam, it's cooked and has reached the setting stage.
• Keep cooking the jam until it passes the cold plate test.
• Once the jam is ready, turn off the flame and once the jam cools down transfer the jam in a sterilized air tight glass container.Store it in the fridge.Use when required.

       
          Happy cooking !