Mulled Wine Jam

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Mr Saturday Night bounced in and said in excited tones: ”Someone on the Bake Off made Mulled Wine Jam!”
‘Hmmmf,’ I said and rolled over..
But it stuck, didn’t it?
Mulled. Wine. Jam.
What a time to be alive..
So naturally, I had to give it a go..
Mulled wine jam (5)
EQUIPMENT:

  • 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
Mulled wine jam (8)

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.

Pomegranete

  • 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.

Mulled wine jam (2)

  • 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.

Mulled wine jam (7)

  • 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!!

Mulled wine jam (6)

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!
About

I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx

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