Recipe: QT's Low-Sugar Spicy Mixed-Fruit Conserve

AAAACCCCKKKK!!!!  I am in the midst of a bona-fide Fruit Frenzy!  Plums-a-plenty, Leftover cherries (from my Orgasmically Delicious Fresh Cherry Pie); Salvaged white peaches; And a dwindling supply of fresh apricots from the neighbor's tree.

Yep.  Feeling pretty overloaded.  And last night I was soooo successful at avoiding Productive Work that, well, nothing got done!  And the fruits continued to -ahem - ripen on the countertop.  Well, except for the cherries, those got stashed in a bowl in the fridge (and they generated quite a bit of cherry-juice in the bowl - which got dumped into the jam mixture).

So today was pretty hectic, work-wise.  But I did manage to blanch and peel the plums and peaches between emails.  Hint for blanching/peeling peaches: Score the bottom with a knife "in-line" with the peach's "butt-crack" line.  It'll make it easier to split and de-pit later.  Another helpful hint: Don't blanch fruit for too long (30 secs to 1 minute tops), otherwise it will start to cook and you'll never get the peels off without sacrificing a lot of fruit.

Oh, and apricots don't peel.  So don't even bother trying!

Pitting? :::sigh:::  Pain in the tush!

Anyhoooo...  I promised a recipe, so here goes:

QT's Low-Sugar Spicy Mixed-Fruit Conserve
Yield 5 x 12 oz jars + 1 x 8 oz. jar

Ingredients:

• 8 cups (~4lbs) prepared fruit, skinned and pitted (except the cherries - leave the skins on).  I used peaches, apricots, plums and cherries
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3-1/2 cups sweetener (I used 2 cups sugar, 1-1/2 cups Splenda)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves (I'd cut that back - or eliminate it)
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice (Again, cut back or eliminate)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (the real-deal). (Might bump that up to 2 tsp, next time)
• 3 (+1/2) TBS Low/No-Sugar Pectin (the Ball brand jar of pectin called for 3 TBS, but I like a firm set)

Instructions:

1. Blanch and peel and de-pit your plums and peaches.  Don't bother with peeling the apricots or cherries.
2. Chop into 1/2" pieces (or whatever size you like your jam chunks to be). I ended up quartering the cherries - mostly because I wanted to make sure the jam was pit-free!
3. Sprinkle a little lemon juice (maybe a tsp) to keep the fruit from browning while you're prepping...
4. Mix the pectin, in a dry bowl, with appx 1 cup of sweetener.  Mix well with a fork.
5. Dump the sweetener+pectin in with the fruit, along with the lemon juice, and mix well.
6. Put the fruit/sweetener/pectin on the stove in a LARGE pot and cook, stirring constantly, on Medium-High 'til well-heated and well-mixed.
7. Add the rest of your sweetener.
8. Bring to a hard boil, stirring constantly.  Boil hard for one full minute.
9. Remove from heat and check for "set."
10. If it's set properly, ladle the jam into hot, sterilized half-pint jars (I use the "sterilize" + "heated dry" cycle on my dishwasher).
11. Cap 'em and stick 'em in a canner.
12. Process in a Water-bath for 7-10 minutes. (I'm limited to a Steam Canner - but I haven't killed anyone, yet!)
13. Remove them and let them sit, undisturbed, overnight.
14. Make sure the lids popped.  If one (or two) didn't, pop 'em in the fridge and use them right away...

Jam should be good, stored at room temperature for at least 6 months (I rarely have my jams last longer than that!).

Thoughts on the outcome: I think I went a little too heavy on the spices.  The cloves definitely "stand-out" from the fruit.  So I'd definitely dial-it-back next time.  It's still very good - just very spicy! (I'd have preferred to have the spices be more subtle.  "Oh well!")

Random assortment of pictures:

Nekkid Fruits!

Plums, Peaches and Apricots (cherries are hiding in the bottom)

Between the cherries and the plums,

pretty damned juicy!

Sugar+Pectin on the left.  Spicy fruit mixture on the right.

All done!!!

I am curious to know how it tastes after it's melded a bit.  Maybe I'll pop the small jar open tomorrow and stick it in the fridge.  Maybe the spices will mellow-out a bit...

It definitely IS tasty!  And a good way to dispose of a fairly large quantity of fruit!

Addendum 07/13/12: Eliminate the cloves!  They overpowered the recipe.  Even after giving it time to - ahem - "mellow" in the fridge.  


Also for some reason, this batch of jam didn't "set-up" properly.  It does thicken-up once it's put in the fridge, however. 


Overall, I'd say this is a nice "zippy" jam.  Not necessarily a "spread on your breakfast toast" jam (and I don't think it would work well on PB&J sandwiches!).  But it would work very nicely as a filling for dessert crepes, or a topping on some ice cream!

Now, onto those plums.........................