Conserves - Cherry Almond, Apricot Cinnamon, Plum & Star Anise

As promised, here is the recipe for the Cherry Almond jam, which has a sneaky addition of Amaretto liqueur added at the end of the process. This is a really delicious jam for those who are lucky enough to have an excess of cherries, here they are $20 a kilo at the moment so not fruit you would normally make jam from if you have to buy the fruit at that price.

The stone fruit is beginning to come into season here in NZ but the first two kilos I bought of apricots and plums weren’t quite sweet or ripe enough so I turned them both into jam also, no point in wasting them!

Ingredients – Cherry Almond Jam (makes approximately 4 190ml jars)

• 1kg Cherries, washed, halved & stoned
• 800g sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 70g slivered almonds

Method

1. Place all ingredients into a pan, except almonds, over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Increase the heat & bring ingredients to the boil and boil for 45 minutes.
3. Add the almonds and continue to boil for 5 minutes.
4. The jam will have reduced by this stage and will have the ‘jammy’ consistency. To test if it is ready, place ice cold water in a bowl and drop some of the jam into the water. This sets the jam quickly and will tell you what the consistency will be once bottled. If it is still runny, boil a little longer until it reaches a sticky but still runny consistency.
5. Add the amaretto as soon as the jam is finished cooking.
6. Store Jam in sterilised jars.

Ingredients – Plum & Cinnamon Jam (makes approximately 5 190ml jars)

• 1kg black plums, halved & stoned
• 800g sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cinnamon sticks (optional but adds more flavour)
• 4 star anise

Method

1. Place all ingredients into a pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Increase the heat & bring ingredients to the boil and boil for 45 minutes.
3. The jam will have reduced by this stage and will have the ‘jammy’ consistency. To test if i it is ready place ice cold water in a bowl and drop some of the jam into the water. This sets the jam quickly and will tell you what the consistency will be once bottled. If it is still runny, boil a little longer until it reaches a sticky but still runny consistency.
4. Store Jam in sterilised jars.

Ingredients – Apricot & Cinnamon Jam (makes approximately 5 190ml jars)

• 1kg apricots, halved & stoned
• 800g sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 cinnamon sticks

Method – follow as above for plum jam.

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