Mulled Wine Jam

• A large tall pot – I used my stockpot
• Long-handled wooden spoon
• Sterilised jars and lids
• Measuring jug
• Hand blender – optional
• Sieve – optional
• Jam funnel

Here are the 236g jars – with the contents being let down by my terrible writing

INGREDIENTS: This recipe is going to give you about 6 small 260ml jars – perfect portions for giving away, but do keep some for yourself! I got my jars in Lakeland.

• 1.2kg tangy apples (or half apples / half plums) See NOTES 1. Peeled and finely chopped.
• 600mls Red wine – I used red wine and a splash of Port.
• 2 large oranges to give 200ml orange juice – My 200mls was made up of Orange juice and the juice of a Pomegranate (it was lying about, looking lonely). I also peeled the zest from one orange with a potato peeler, and added it to the pot.

• 3-4 cloves – in an effort to reduce the amount of stuff I had to fish out, I used ground Clove powder – half a teaspoon.
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 2-3 whole Star Anise
• 2 vanilla pods
• 900g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3-4 tbsp raisins – that was 2 small handfuls in my world..

METHOD:

• Peel and core apples; then chop finely. De-stone the plums if you’re using them, and cut them up.
• Add all the ingredients to the tall pot and bring to the boil. Stir occasionally to make sure that the sugar has dissolved – you’ll see any undissolved grains on the back of the spoon.

• Leave to boil fairly hard for about 50min. See NOTES 2
• Put a couple of small saucers into the fridge to chill.
• TEST: To test whether the jam has “set”, take a teaspoon of it and drizzle it onto the cold saucer. If you can touch the surface after a few seconds and it doesn’t run when tilting the saucer, it has set. If not, boil it for another few minutes and then test it again.
• Once you have achieved a set, carefully remove the star anise, vanilla pod, orange zest and cinnamon stick. I left the orange zest as I was going to blitz mine.
• If you like a smooth jam – as I do – you can now blend it. See NOTES 3
• Using a ladle and a jam funnel – buy one today, thank me forever – fill the jam into the sterilized jars.

• Seal the jars tightly.
• This jam should last for up to a year unopened. Once opened, store in the fridge. Note: It’s so delicious, it’s never going to last for a year!!

NOTES:

1. I didn’t have any plums, but for once in my life, I had a variety of apples. I used mostly Granny Smiths, then a few Coxes  and a red apple whose name I don’t know. You could use Bramleys, and they will melt down beautifully so you probably won’t have to blend the jam.
2. Boiling – I simmered mine, and it wasn’t gelling at 50 minutes. I suggest that you turn the heat up a bit. Stir it every 5 minutes or so to make sure the jam doesn’t stick. ** This is why you need the tall saucepan**
3. Mine got about 6 minutes more at a hard boil, and to me, it’s a little bit over done, but tastes amazing and spreads beautifully.
4. If you’re going to blend it, please use a hand blender – you do not want to be transferring anything this hot from one container to another!
5. I thought I’d have to strain it but it blended really well, so I didn’t bother.
6. Also, don’t feel that you must blend the jam –  the apple pieces turn a beautiful deep red/burgundy colour, so that they look like jewels when they’re cooked.
7. You probably won’t need any Preserving Sugar, as there is lots of Pectin in Apples. But actually, all I had was ‘Jam’ sugar, so I used that.
8. I had this for breakfast on wheaten bread (don’t judge me!) and it was delicious.              I plan to use it as a festive filling for my Christmas Jammie Dodgers https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/jammie-dodgers/
9. It will also be magical on fresh scones https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/home-made-scones/ topped with a dollop of whipped cream!