In A Jam

Tried a different recipe, quick and easy, for raspberry jam.  I found it in Paula Deen's magazine. Unfortunately, it was not as quick Or as easy as it was supposed to be!  I'll admit, it may have been my fault, because (gasp!) I doubled the recipe.

The recipe called for two-cups of raspberries, but I had four, so there you go!  Made sense to me, right?  Well, no, really I knew better, from having read and made past recipes on jamming.  But it was such a different process, I really didn't think it would matter. 

Usually, you cook the fruit with the pectin before adding sugar.  This recipe called for pouring all the sugar over the fruit and letting it sit for ten-minutes.  In the meantime, you cook the pectin with water for a bit, then pour it over the fruit/sugar mixture, and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.

Ultimately, the pectin/water was just not sufficient enough to dissolve the sugar on the fruit.  Ugh!  I had a big mixture of pink goo.  Plan B? 

Had to try and salvage it all, so I had no choice but to pour it all into a big pan and cook it until all the sugar dissolved, and then some for added measure.  It foamed up so much, I wasn't sure it was even clear beneath, so I added a tad bit of butter, like I'd done in the past for other recipes, then skimmed off as much foam as I could.

 

Eventually got it all ladled into the jars, cleaned the rims, screwed on the rings, and put them all into a boiling water bath for 15-minutes.  Only time would tell if we would have jam, or LOTS of raspberry sauce.

I let it sit overnight and the jars had definitely sealed well.  I put one jar in the fridge so it would have a nice chill to it in time to have with our morning toast.  We sat down for breakfast, and as I opened the jar and scooped out the first little bit, I saw that it had indeed set-up well!  Whew!  And not only that, it was very yummy. 

It's always fun trying new recipes, but next time, I think I will avoid the drama and use my other tried & true methods for jammin'.