Ginger jam needs fruit to become a jam. I used primarily tangerines in this recipe. Don’t throw out your old pumpkin. This jam uses pumpkin. Pumpkin pairs well with oranges and lemon. People add from 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of ginger in their jam. I use one cup of chopped ginger. It is your palate. You decide. Watch the videos and see how everyone makes jam a little differently.

Freezer Jam

FREEZER JAM -Spicy ginger & sweet pumpkin. NO SUGAR!

NOTE: site.google.com is no longer providing a print feature. I will get the code to add a new print button as soon as I can do it! 😦

PUMPKIN / GINGER Jam Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 – 1 CUP of diced ginger (peel ginger by scraping with a metal spoon or peeler)
• 1 1/2 cup of date sugar [ watch date sugar making video – see below ]
• 3 1/2 heaping cups of fruit (about 2 lbs); tangerine segments combined with cooked pumpkin. You may add apples and/or apple peals or mandarin oranges. Note: It all has to add up to 3 1/2 cups
• Zest* 3 tangerines [ use zest tool -see below] and soften in 1/3 cup of hot water [ use microwave ]
• A big pinch of sea salt [enhances the flavour]
• 1 lemon (about a heaping tablespoon) (Zest lemon and combine the lemon zest with the tangerine zest )

INSTRUCTIONS

• Prepare ginger: Finely dice or purée in a blender. You can do half puréed and half rough, diced ginger, for texture.
• Dice/chop orange segments (or other fruit) with cooked pumpkin to make up 3 1/2 cups of fruit (& pumpkin).
• Mix chopped fruit, softened zest and date sugar together. and set aside for 1 hour [ very important step ].
• Add mixture into a heavy pot. Then, add lemon juice, ginger, salt and left over zest water. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat. TIP: Make sure your pot reaches a rolling boil for about 3 minutes.Your jam is very close to being done. At this point you should have reached the required temperature to set your jam/jelly)
• Check for doneness: Cook fruit until your thermometer reaches 220 F or 105C. [ 30-60 minutes]
• If you are not using a thermometer, test the jam by looking at the drips from your stir spoon. Slow, syrup-like drips indicates the jam is ready. I recommend this for experienced jam makers. More caning tips: freshpreserving.com. For newbies: Use the thermometer and spoon test together to see how the jam looks at the correct temperature. You may skip the thermometer test after you are more experienced.
• Remove pot from heat when you have reached the required temperature.
• Place jam in warm, sterilized jars and store in the fridge for 1 month, or freezer for several months.

Natural Pectin

*Zest: The majority of the pectin resides in the citrus peel. Natural pectin helps remove toxins such as lead and mercury from your body. TIP: make single batches only. Double batches do not work well. Gift extra jam to friends.

Commercial Pectin

Commercial pectin is made from Apple pulp, citrus zest and acidic lemon juice. Pectin like Certo and Sure Jell are added to jams to promote a thick gel while making home made jam. But, that can change the flavor of your jam. If you want to ensure you are “Gellin” with ‘natural’ jam, you can add apple skins to your jam for added pectin. Sieve the apple peals out as you fill your jam jars. I use the tangerine zest for my natural pectin in this ginger/pumpkin jam recipe.

JAM with Date Sugar – A Surprise Find!

JAM TIPS

• Watch the way the jam drips.
  • Swirl your spatula through your cooking jam, hold it up over the pot, and watch how it falls. If the jam runs right off the spoon and looks thin and runny, it’s not done yet. However, if it forms thick droplets that hang heavily off the bowl of the utensil, but don’t immediately fall off, it is either nearing completion or is done. When the jam falls off the spoon almost like a sheet..it is completely done.
• Give it time to Set.
  • Jam can take up to a week to achieve its finished set. You may think its runny, but its not. Some jams take 3 hours or 3 weeks to set into a gel like state. Don’t declare it a failure ten minutes out of the pot. I learned the hard way. If it’s done and runny put the jam in a jar. It’s okay. As it cools the jam thickens. Be Patient
  • HARD JAM: If you cook your jam too long it will start to get hard or even burn in your pot. Take heed of a thermometer or the dripping spoon test. Everything can happen very quickly when you are on a rolling boil.
• Watch and listen.
  • When is the jam ready? As a seasoned jammer, I have learned that most batches of jam will tell you when they’re done. When the cooking noise takes on a frenzied quality that sounds more like a sizzle than a gentle boil. IT IS DONE ! You will also notice that towards the end, the foam subsides and jam starts to gather more thickly on the sides of the pot, and it begins to splatter more violently.

Jam or Preserves?

Classic AMISH Strawberry Jam Recipe

Freezer Jam Tips

Two Dates a Day..Keeps The Doctor Away!

How To Make Your own Date Sugar [ Easy]

DRYING DATES:

• Clean the dates by rinsing
• Soak dates in 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water for 15 minutes. dates
• Spread onto a tray and dry in the oven at 250 F
• Oven or air dry dates until hard
• Place dry dates in a grinder and reduce to a granular powder