Peach, Mango & Vanilla Jam

After reading through last month’s Sugar High Friday posts at Delicious Days, I couldn’t resist making my own jam.

This was going to be my first, so I tried to read through most of the entries and jam making secrets from several websites. I was specifically looking for a peach jam recipe, because I knew that the sugar-fruit ratio vary according to type and ripeness of the fruit. I was set to prepare a peach jam/marmalade/preserve (if you are also confused as to which one to call your preserved fruit, check out the Wikipedia entry for definitions – mine is somewhere between jam and preserve) with the addition of a mango that I couldn’t resist when I saw on the shelves and of course a vanilla pod for the delicious smell.

I am quite happy with the result. Pulsing the fruit just a little in the hand-held blender yielded the crunchy texture that I was aiming at. The vanilla smell could have been stronger, I think. The sugar amount is perfect though; not too sweet – just the way I like.

Browsing through many tutorials on how to preserve fruit, I must say that I found Delia Smith’s “How to make marmalade” quite useful, especially tip #12 on testing the set. She recommends that you put three small bowls in the freezer to test the set of the jam/marmalade at certain intervals. You put a small amount of the boiling jam, keep it there for a minute then run your finger through it. If a crinkly skin forms, then it means it has reached the setting point. I was content with the result on my third try.

I was rather disappointed to see that most of the vanilla pod seeds stayed within the foam that I had to throw out. Although I still see some of the seeds in the jar, I would have preferred that most of them stayed in.