Recipes – Jammin: Orange Jam With Spices of Alsace
from https://bahlonglong.livejournal.com/

I had a whole load of free time near the end of 2009, and was inspired one day to try a new sort of Christmas cooking and/or gifting – home made jams. The made entirely from scratch, no store bought pectin or preservatives involved kind.

The source of inspiration this time is a Food Nazi by the name of Christine Ferber. Apparently a 4th generation patissiere based in, you guessed it, Alsace, and lovingly (?) called the Fairy Godmother of Jams by the food press (no pun intended). And the pièce de résistance? An innocuous looking book called Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber

You know you are in s*** when the recipe book has no photos, and the instructions are entirely descriptive in nature.

The jams and jellies were a real bitch to make as controlling the temperature was a real tricky dicky.

(a) if you do not hit the right temperature, it does not set properly.
(b) if you exceed, the thick syrup will overflow like freaking lava, and it will be too hot to wipe it up. If you leave it to cool down, it will be too sticky to clean up.

Nice.

And Ferber’s recipes only make about 8 jars per batch.

The jams were really yummy, albeit a bit too sweet for my liking. I doubt I will ever try it again.

Orange Jam With Spices of Alsace

Makes About 6 x 100ml jars
This recipe takes 2 days

For the pectin:
750g Granny Smith apples
75 cl (3 cups 2 ounces) water

For the jam proper:
Abt 1.2 kg oranges, or 50 cl [cl = clear] juice and pulp
Another 2 oranges
1 kg (4 2/3 cups) granulated sugar, plus 200g (1 cup) [FMM: Cut back on the 4 2/3 cups of sugar]
20 cl (200g) water
Juice of 1 small lemon
2 1/2 teaspoons (5g) ground gingerbread spice, which I substituted for ground allspice, ginger and whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise

The Fruit Nazi says you should use Maltese oranges, or if that is not available, either Temple or Valencia, if available

Equipment:
1 candy thermometer (this is VERY CRUCIAL)
a mandolin, if available
1 cheesecloth / sieve
1 small cheesecloth bag or similar
6 to 8 small jars
A funnel with a wide mouth if available, so you can poor into the jars without dripping over the side

For this recipe, a little science lesson is in order, so that you can avoid all the numerous errors I made.

Day 1 – Making the pectin.

Pectin is as a gelling agent, thickening agent and stabilizer in food. It naturally occurs in fruit especially green apples. People usually buy the satchels of powder but not for Christine Ferber. She does it the old school way.

1. Rinse the apples in cold water. Remove the stems and cut them in quarters without peeling.

2. Put the apples in a wide shallow pan and cover with the 75 cl of water.

3. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat. The apples will be soft and the skins will turn brown.

4. Strain the mixture with the cheesecloth. You should try to filter more than once. Refrigerate overnight.

Day 2 – Making the pectin continued

5. The next day, measure 2 cups 1 ounce (50 cl) of the pectin, leaving behind the sediment that has settled. This ensures that you have clear jelly.

The pectin is required as many fruits do not have sufficient pectin in themselves for the jam/jelly to set properly.

This basic pectin recipe is the key building block for many of Ferber’s recipes, though there are some that take a different route.

Day 2 – The Jars

6. Now’s a good time to sterlise the jars. Wash them in soapy water and rinse in clean warm water. Drip dry, upside down, on a rack in the oven set at 140 degrees for about 10 minutes. You can then turn off the heat but let them sit there until its time for canning

Day 2 – Making the jam proper

7. Squeeze the 1.2 kg of oranges, and leave aside 50cl for jam making. The rest is your reward for slaving over the stove.

8. Wash and brush the other 2 oranges under cold water. Slice them into very thin rounds. Use a mandolin if available, makes it much easier

9. Using a preserving pan, poach the slices with 200g (1 cup) sugar and 20 cl of water. Maintain a boil and cook until the slices turn translucent

I suggest you use a pan that has high sides so that you can clip the candy thermometer to the side, and to prevent an orange syrup volcano. Not pretty.

10. Add in everything, ie. the apple juice / pectin, orange juice, lemon juice, spices, 1 kg sugar, and the seeds in the cheesebag cloth.

11. Bring to a boil whilst stirring. Skim and scum you see forming at the top. Continue at a boil for another 10 minutes, keep stirring and skim some more if required

12. Remove the seeds and the spices. You can divide parts of the spices into the jars if you like.

13. Return the jam mixture to a boil. Check the set.

To check the set, you re apparently supposed to leave a saucer or cup etc in the fridge / freezer for a couple of hours, and then drip some of the hot jam onto it – if it sets properly within a few seconds it is done.

The trick here is to go for a “rolling boil”. I tried hard to figure out when there was a rolling boil and failed miserably and had runny jam – the magic temperature is 105 degrees Celsius so do yourself a favour a get one. Once the liquid hits 100 degress it will seem to hover there forever, so trust the thermometer.

ps: the photo does *NOT* show a rolling boil though it sure looked like one to me then!

14. If it’s sufficiently set, you can just can the jam, using the funnel if available. If not, continue until you hit the right temperature. After canning, turn the jar upside down. After the jam cools down after a few hours, you can turn it back upright