Apple Beet Jam

I had a few apples that were a bit sorry looking and it didn't seem like we could enjoy it as is, so I was thinking about a jam and the timing of having an abundance of beetroots as well made me think of a combination of apples and beets to make a jam. The resulting jam had a beautiful color (of course) and it tasted really good. The kids loved it on slices of toast and when I quizzed them on the ingredients, they got the apple right but did not guess the beetroot and were quite surprised. I didn't add too much beets since I didn't want its flavour to overpower the jam... but it was a fairly large beetroot that I used in comparison to the size of the apples.


APPLE BEET JAM - Makes about 2 cups

 

Ingredients: 

Apples - 5, small, peeled and cored
Beetroot - 1 large, peeled 
Sugar - 1.5 to 2 cups approximately (see notes to determine how much) 
Ginger - 1 inch, peeled
Lemon juice - 1-2 tbsp

Method:
1) Pressure cook the peeled beetroot for 2-3 whistles till soft. Chop into medium sized pieces

2) Chop the peeled and cooled apples into medium sized pieces

3) Grind together (I used a Blendtec) the beet pieces,  apples and ginger with a little water if needed to a fairly smooth paste.For the above measurements, I got close to 3 cups of the ground mixture.

4) Heat a heavy bottomed, deep pot and add the ground paste with sugar. I used 1.5 cups since the apples and beet had some inherent sweetness.... you can go upto 2 cups for a sweeter jam.

5) On medium heat, continue to cook this (it will splatter, so take care) with occasional stirring for the first 20 mins or so and more frequent stirring as time goes by. I found that partly covering the pot, helped reduce the splatter a bit and enabled the jam to cook faster. 

6) Add lemon juice after 20 mins and cook until the jam thickens. 
Test: You can test by freezing a plate - pour jam on very cold plate, and draw a line with your finger to split the jam, if it is done, it should not come back together (and stay on separate sides). 

7) Remove from stove and allow to cook completely (it will thicken more upon cooling). Store in a sterilized glass bottle and refrigerate.

Comments

Popular Posts