Pumpkin jam - general principles and methods of cooking
The queen of the garden pumpkin can be stored even all year round. It remains as fresh and juicy. But these properties do not stop the hostesses in an effort to preserve it in various ways. For example, cooking pumpkin jam - imagine, this is very tasty! With the exact observance of technology turns out beautiful, transparent, like a glowing dessert from the inside. It will be stored in the same way as other species, because sugar is an excellent preservative. Boiling over in sugar, excess moisture evaporates from the pieces of pumpkin and the concentration of acid, which suppresses the action of bacteria, increases.
Before cooking jam, chopped pumpkin pulp should be covered with dry sugar and wait until the concentrated sugar solution draws moisture from the cells. This is the effect of osmosis - in this case, water penetrates through the cell walls into the sugar syrup - a place of high concentration of sucrose. Sugar syrup diluted with juice boils at a temperature of 106.5 ° C - this is higher than the boiling point of water. The jam is boiled until the drop stops flowing on the saucer. There is another, faster technology that is more often applied to non-legged fruits — the sliced fruits are dipped into an already cooked syrup. To give the pumpkin more flavor, add spices - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, almonds, hazelnuts, etc. Cook for experiment purposes a couple of jars of pumpkin jam - you will be charmed by a delicate, fragrant dessert without a specific pumpkin smell.
Pumpkin jam - food preparation
Pumpkin for jam should not be very ripe. Peel it of seeds and skin and cut into sticks or slices. To make jam, rub it on a coarse grater. Additional taste and aroma is obtained by mixing pumpkin mass with apples, lemons, oranges, currant berries, and sea buckthorn and other options. Any fruit with a sour taste will do. You can cook in different ways - fast, or in several stages. It all depends on the intended method of storage and the amount of jam. For cooking, it is best to use stainless steel basins or copper, brass, aluminum. Make sure that before cooking starts, there is no copper oxide deposits on the dishes. Enameled ware, especially with cracks, is not recommended, otherwise the iron may dissolve under the action of acids and spoil the taste of jam. Pumpkin jam - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Pumpkin Jam with Lemon
Ingredients: pumpkin (1 kg), sugar (1 kg), cloves (5-7 buds), allspice (5-7 peas), lemon (or orange, 2 pcs).
Method of preparation
Clean the pumpkin and cut into cubes (0.5-1 cm). Fall asleep sugar and leave for several hours, so she gave the juice. We put on a weak fire, boil. Boil for about 20-30 minutes. With lemon or orange, remove the zest, throw away the white flesh, and chop the fruit pulp in a blender or blender, add to jam and remove from heat. You can lay out the banks in the cooled form.
Recipe 2: Pumpkin Jam with Dried Apricots
This jam can be called apricot jam without apricot. Autumn recipe, quite budget, with a modest cost. You can make this jam at any time of the year, if you have a pumpkin stock. Lemon cut into thin slices, not clearing the skin. Optionally, you can add candied ginger and pectin.
Ingredients: peeled pumpkin (1 kg), dried apricots (300 gr.), Sugar (1 kg), lemon (2 pcs.), Water (2 cups), nutmeg.
Method of preparation
Cut the dried apricots into cubes and fill it with water for 30 minutes. We cut the pumpkin cubes, lemon slices. Pour water from dried apricots into a saucepan or basin for cooking, add sugar and heat to form a clear syrup. We spread the pumpkin and lemon and cook until soft pumpkin. Add the grated nutmeg and cook for another 2 minutes. We pack the prepared jam in cans and leave it to cool completely, then put it in the fridge. In a week you will not recognize its taste at all - it will become absolutely apricot!
Recipe 3: Pumpkin jam with sea buckthorn
This option is not only tasty, but also useful. During the winter and spring avitaminosis, pumpkin with sea buckthorn perfectly feed the body with vitamins and good mood.
Ingredients: sugar (700-800 grams), pumpkin (1 kg), sea buckthorn (3/4 cup).
Method of preparation
Slice the pumpkin and my sea buckthorn. We put all in a basin for cooking jam and we fall asleep sugar. After about 3-4 hours the pumpkin should give abundant juice. Cook on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes. Jam roll up in sterilized jars. It can be stored for a year.
Recipe 4: Pumpkin jam for slimming (with oranges)
For those fanatically wanting to lose weight, sweet foods are a kind of taboo. Pumpkin jam is the case when the dessert not only does not prevent us from having a slim figure, but even contributes to this. This is a long-playing recipe, that is, we will be cooking jam in several stages.
Ingredients: pumpkin (3 kg), oranges (2 pieces), lemon (1 piece), sugar (2 kg).
Method of preparation
First, peeled pumpkin, and oranges and lemon with the skin, cut into cubes. Mix with the sugar and let it boil. Boil 10 minutes after boiling, set for 1 hour. Then repeat the procedure: boil for 5-7 minutes, insist for 1 hour. Spill on banks, close the lid. The peculiarity of this jam is that it can be used externally, as a means of cellulite.
Pumpkin jam - tips from experienced chefs
- Jam can be stored for a long time, but it happens that it wanders. In this case, proceed as follows: in the amount of 30 - 35% of the total amount of prepared sugar syrup. The jam is brought to a boil and the syrup is separated from the pulp. Mix the new and old syrup, and boil together for a few minutes. Then spread the pulp and boil for some time. The resulting jam is packaged in new sterilized jars.
- If you store undercooked jam or with a lack of sugar - it can form mold. It should be carefully removed, in the same way, separate the syrup and boil for 3-5 minutes. Combine again and boil, packaged in dry jars.
