Shirlee Posner of foodie blog Eat Surrey combines three of summer's best flavours in this delightfully seasonal jam. It's a great way of using up a bumper crop of home-grown gooseberries and rhubarb, or why not pick your own at a farm near you? Shirlee recommends this jam for topping banana scones, layering cakes or simply smothered on toast.
-
250
g
gooseberries
-
150
g
rhubarb
-
200
ml
clear apple juice or water
-
3-4
heads
of elderflowers
-
400
g
jam sugar
-
4
tbsp
elderflower cordial
- Before you begin cooking, heat the oven to 100°C. Pour around 2cm of water into an oven-proof dish and stand your jam jars in the dish. Leave the jars in the oven to sterilise while you make the jam. The lids can be placed in a mixing bowl and covered with boiling water from a kettle.
- Cut the rhubarb into 1cm chunks and top and tail the gooseberries - this can be done with scissors.
- Place the fruit and apple juice or water into a medium-sized heavy saucepan. Lay the elderflowers on top and allow to infuse while you bring the mixture to the boil.
- As soon as it boils, turn off the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
- Remove and discard the elderflowers and add the sugar to the pan.
- Bring back to the boil (around 105°C if using a jam thermometer) for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and looks syrupy, then stir in the elderflower cordial.
- Allow the jam to cool for 10 minutes before pouring the jam into the jars.
