Grapes ... How much of this word. It is very satisfying and cures many sores. And the well-known drink made from it cheers the soul and fills with inspiration.
Grape jam - you just have to hear this name and it is already drooling, isn't it? This delicacy will be appreciated by both gourmets and aesthetes. He is very tasty, and looks noble. And it is also versatile - plain morning toast and filling for exquisite pastry masterpieces - grape jam can be both.
Grape jam - general principles of cooking
Let's first understand what the actual jam is. Jam with this name came to us from Europe in the distant Tsar times. The jam is very thick, made of fruits or berries that have not been rubbed and cooked in sugar syrup. It is much easier to prepare it than our traditional Russian jam. All you need is to take whole berries or fruits and boil them. You can even not cut them - they themselves will be perfectly good!
Not completely ripe berries are bigger for grape jam; they will be even tastier with them. But the beaten and already slightly spoiled fruit are not suitable for jam, because they do not have enough pectin, which helps it to freeze.
How is a sweet treat prepared? First, separate the grapes from the clusters, carefully sort and wash them. Bones can be removed, but you can not.
Now about sugar. With immature fruits it is used in a ratio of 2: 1, with ripe 1: 1.
Then we have two ways: we can either pour grapes with sugar and put it on the fire, or boil it without sugar on a small fire, so that the berries will soften and pectin will stand out from them.
Usually, lemon juice is added to the jam. It makes the taste of food slightly sour, which gives it additional refinement. But most importantly, lemon juice is a very good preservative, which helps the treat to stay fresh for a long time. Adding a sweet ingredient, you need to be very careful not to digest, or vice versa, “undercook” berries. Otherwise, the good delicious grape jam can be forgotten. If we remove the berry mixture too early, the treat will come out liquid. And if it is too late, the sugar will harden, and the jam will become dark, as if burnt.
After boiling, the cooking time averages up to twenty minutes. Grape jam should be constantly mixed, otherwise it can burn. Also, one should not forget about the foam that forms on the surface - it should be necessarily removed.
Checking if the jam is ready is a snap. Just take a cooled saucer (so that it “freezes”, you can hold it a little bit in the freezer), drip some jam on it and put it in the fridge. After a couple of minutes, draw out the saucer and see if the drop spreads when tilted. If not, then the jam is ready and it can be rolled up.
Keep the sweet dish in a dark, cool and dry place. If this is not done, the jam will quickly lose its matchless taste and darken.
Recipe 1. Pitted grape jam
Ingredients:
• two kg of grapes;
• one kilogram of sugar;
• one lemon (small size).
How to prepare:
The first thing to do is “tear apart” the skin of grapes with pits. For this we use perforated talker. The separated skin is not thrown away.
Now a couple of minutes boil the grape pulp, then wipe it with a sieve (take a sieve with small holes). All with bones figured out.
Add to our “nascent” jam the skin of grapes. True, you can throw it away, but you shouldn’t do it, because it is rich in nutrients, and the jam with it turns out to be thicker, and its color is richer.
Fill the grapes with sugar and put the future delicacy on a small fire.
So it's time for a lemon. More precisely, its juice, which should be squeezed straight into the pan.
When the contents of the container boil, we cook the food for another quarter of an hour, and then we begin to check whether the jam is ready. To find out, drop a bit of jam on a saucer, hold it in the freezer for a minute and check its thickness using the method described above.
Now pour the sweet food into the banks (understandably, sterilized), cover with something warm and wait until it cools.
Recipe 2. Grape jam “Winter mirages”
Ingredients:
• one and a half kg of “Isabella” (grape variety);
• sugar - 600 g;
• water - no more than 200 milliliters;
• lemon juice - 45 milliliters.
How to prepare:
We take the grapes of “Isabella”, separate the berries from them, put them in my bowl, put them in a saucepan.
We put it on the stove, pour water. We are waiting for the liquid to boil, and then boil the grapes for 5-7 minutes. This small cooking will make the berries very soft, and their flesh can be easily separated from the skin.
Grind grape pulp through a sieve, and then put the resulting mixture back into the pan and start boiling.
Add sugar and lemon juice. Over medium heat bring to a boil. Then, for 20-25 minutes, boil the grape mixture to thicken it. Well, jam and ready!
Now everything is traditional - sterile jars, pouring in them, rolling, wrapping and waiting until they cool.
In cold weather, you can enjoy the unique taste of grape jam!
Recipe 3. Jam from the grapes “of Eden vineyards”
Ingredients:
• 1800 grams of Concord grapes;
• 1000 gr. Sahara;
• 90 ml of lemon;
• half of lemon peel.
How to prepare:
We wash out "Concord", we release berries from clusters.
In the pan squeeze the grape pulp. Skins throw away.
Put the future "Eden" jam on medium heat. Patiently wait until it starts to boil. Then cook it for 5 minutes (covered with a lid).
Now it's time to free him from the bones. We use for this sieve.
Again, send our grape mixture to the pan. Pour sugar, put half of zest and pour lemon juice. We mix all this very well. We put on a strong fire, wait until boil. Cook for another half an hour over medium heat.
Now is the time to try. Make it a cold spoon. Well, delicious? Then jam is ready! It's time to roll it up. We take sterile jars, pour the “Eden” jam into them, close them and let them cool. Then put in the fridge.
Excellent grape jam from the vineyards of the Garden of Eden is ready!
Recipe 4. Jam from the grapes “Dark night of Cairo”
Ingredients:
• dark grapes - one and a half kilograms;
• three cups of sugar;
• two spoons of art. lemon juice.
How to prepare:
We take grapes with a very dark shade. We rinse, put in a saucepan, pour some water into it. Cook for 7-10 minutes.
Now the "Cairo" berries are soft and remove the bones from them and remove the skin will not be difficult. This is what we are doing.
Rub them through a sieve and put them in the pan again.
Cover the grapes with a sweet ingredient and add lemon juice. On low heat bring to a boil.
Cook for half an hour until the jam thickens. Everything! “The dark night of Cairo” “thickened” in our kitchen. But it is still too hot, and therefore it needs to be rolled into sterile dishes and wait for it to cool. And then you can enjoy its unforgettable taste.
Recipe 5. Grape jam “Temptation”
Ingredients:
• four kg of grapes;
• cinnamon - two teaspoons;
• two tables. lemon juice;
• 2.5 kilograms of sugar.
How to prepare:
We touch the grapes. We select only whole, ripe and large berries. Now remove the peel, but do not throw it away! It is necessary in order to jam was thicker.
Put the grape pulp in a bigger pot. Bring to a boil, and then cook for another 5 minutes. The fire is medium. Do not forget to stir the future jam, otherwise it will burn.
In a separate saucepan, bring the grape skins to a boil. Juice that stands out from the peel, you need to remove. If this is not done, the jam will come out very liquid.
Now we take the mixer and whip the rind in it or grind it in a blender to make a gruel.
Add it to the saucepan with grape pulp. We pour sugar and pour lemon juice. We cook for half an hour (the fire should be medium), stir and remove the foam. It's time to add cinnamon so that the jam has a unique flavor. We do this, mix everything well.
Has half an hour passed? Then everything is ready. It's time to pour the jam into sterile jars and wait until it cools, and then you can enjoy it.
Recipe 6. Jam from grapes “Summer day in a can”
Ingredients:
• grapes (raisin variety) - one kg;
• sugar - 0.7 kg;
• apple (sour varieties only) - one kg;
• water - 175 ml.
How to prepare:
Wash and dry the apples, remove the skin from them, remove the seed box and cut into smaller pieces.
Separate the grapes from the brushes, wash them very well.
We put everything in the dishes (in which we are going to make jam), add water.
Cook and stir constantly. We do this until the mixture of fruits and berries softens and melts.
Apple-apple mass is filled with sugar. Cook our jam for another 15 minutes. And that's it — it's ready.
We pour the jam into sterile jars, roll them up. Turn the glass container upside down and hold it until it cools. Already cool? Then jam can be safely eaten.
Grape jam - tips and useful tips
- Grape jam will be an excellent filling for any baking.
- It is more reasonable to use only ripe or unripe grapes. If they perespeli or rotted, then the pectin in them will turn into inedible pectosis, and this jam will quickly deteriorate.
- The roll-up of cans should be made immediately after they have a treat in them.
- No need to boil down grape jam too much - when it cools, it thickens.
A bit of cinnamon gives the dish an unmatched flavor. Just add it at the end of the boil.
