Plum-Strawberry-Rosemary Jam
This recipe was adapted and contributed by Vivian Solomon, who was inspired by a recipe in The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders. Plum-Strawberry-Rosemary Jam is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.Vivian says: “The Plum-Strawberry-Rosemary Jam is a big hit!” It came out perfectly jelled with deep color and a bit of tartness.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed strawberries
- 2 cups sweet plums (I used Santa Rosa) unpeeled, pitted, chopped, and mashed
- 2 cups sugar divided
- 3 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice bottled
- 2½ teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
- 2 10inch sprigs of fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare strawberries by washing, hulling, and mashing.
- Prepare plums by washing, pitting, cutting into small dice, and mashing. Don’t peel.
- Measure out 2 cups of mashed strawberries and 2 cups of mashed plums into a bowl or container with a lid. (If you have extra, save for another use.) Add ½ cup of the sugar and mix well. Cover and put in refrigerator to macerate for 12 to 14 hours.
- The next day, when ready to make the jam, prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Transfer macerated fruit into a sauce pan; add calcium water and lemon juice, and mix well.
- Measure remaining sugar (1½ cups) into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Lay the rosemary sprigs into the hot jam, and gently mix. Allow to steep, covered, for 1-2 minutes. After steeping, taste if you like – the rosemary flavor will not be as strong in the finished jam as it is at this stage. Remove the rosemary sprigs, and stir the jam.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
- Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Notes
*IMPORTANT* This is a two-day jam. The berries and plums are prepared and mixed with some of the sugar, then macerated for 12 or so hours.
Options from Mary Lou: I made this jam recently, with a few small changes that I want to share. I used Flavorosa Plums, which are also called Pluot or Plumcot, as that is what was available at my local farmers’ market.
I only had 1½ cups of mashed plums. To make up for the missing ½ cup of mashed plums, I used 2½ cups of mashed strawberries, also from my farmers’ market. The strawberries were sweet, but the plum skins were quite bitter, so I put some plum skins in but not all.
I macerated the fruit in ½ cup of sugar for 9 hours, but then stirred the pectin into only ½ cup of sugar – for a total in the jam of 1 cup of sugar, not 2 cups. And finally, I added a small pinch of salt (never more than 1/8 teaspoon) to the fruit mixture and I steeped the rosemary in the fruit for 2 minutes.
I am happy to report that this may be the most delicious jam I have ever tasted! My next favorite is Merry Mulled Merlot Jam, recipe created by Carey Nash.
The texture, the color, and the taste of Plum-Strawberry-Rosemary Jam are absolutely wonderful. Thank you Vivian!