An easy way to bring the jewelled glow and taste of summer fruit to your table in the dark months of winter. I always eat bottled raspberries at Christmas dinner instead of pud. Just strain some of the liquid off on Christmas morning and add sugar to taste. Then place the raspberries in a bowl and pour the sweetened juice over. Enough fruit (raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, plums, gooseberries, but don’t mix the fruits within the jar) to fill your Kilner jar or equivalent preserving jar
Newspaper Boiling water Preheat the oven to 100 C, Gas Mark ¼. Wash and dry the preserving jar. Put your chosen fruit in the jar and place it uncovered in the oven. This is to warm through the fruit. Remove the jar from the oven as soon as the juices start to run – you do not want the fruit to cook. Depending on the fruit this could be 10 to 20 mins. Then place the jar on newspaper and pour boiling water up to the top. Give the jar a gentle shake to remove as many air bubbles as you can and then top up with more boiling water until it runs down the sides of the jar. Screw on the lid and leave the jar, away from sunlight, for at least a couple of months before using. NB: The lid should have a slight depression in it once it has cooled down. If it bows outwards then the process has not taken and the fruit will ferment. |
