Luxury in a jar - Berry and rhubarb jam

Just the other morning while I was filling out the little jars at work with breakfast jam, I thought to myself,

"Such luxurious times we live in".

Centuries ago, jam was a delicacy only the royalty enjoyed. These preserves were made from fruit picked from the garden and glasshouse on the palace grounds. Fast forward to the present and I am portioning jam from a large bucket and everyone can enjoy a jam sandwich. Isn't it funny how we take these little luxuries for granted?

Of course there are jams, and there are jams. What sets the standard for the heavy-weights is the percentage of fruit. To me, any preserve containing a minimum of 45% fruit is called a jam. Anything less, it is a jelly or a fruit spread - and this is by no means my personal dismissal of its quality, merely a question of semantics.

Although I was tempted to make this jam without the use of commercial pectin, the idea of gathering enough apple pips or making an apple peel stock had me change my mind at the drop of a spoon. The truth is, most commercial pectin is derived from apple anyway but is conveniently crystallised for use. Initially, I planned on using raw sugar in my jam but spotted jam-setting sugar conveniently packaged in 1kg bags at my local grocery which is just the amount I required. Although, it costs a fraction more than raw or white sugar, it really does make the whole process, less of a process - that is, there is no need to:

1. measure pectin then mixing it through the sugar to prevent it from clumping together

2. determine the appropriate amount of citric acid required to activate the pectin and,

3. be left behind with a jarful of pectin that you may never use again, unless you are considering jam-making as a hobby.

The jam I made is a no-fuss-cook-in-30-minutes-soft-set variety. The advantage of the short cooking time is you get to preserve the vibrant colour and taste of the fruit and as a result, a more robust jam in both flavour and visual appeal. Some recipes call for a knob of butter to be added when the jam has come to its setting point. This does not affect the flavour of the jam and is merely done to help disperse the foam that accumulates during boiling (scientifically, its job is to break the surface tension of the jam). Some argue that this step may affect the shelf life of the product but I cannot personally remark on this as I have very little jam-making experience. I find skimming the foam off the surface of the jam before placing them in jars just as easy.

If you wish to read more about proper jam-making, this site offers some good guidelines. As does this site. However, I must add my jam (although breaking a few rules highlighted in aforementioned sites) is pretty spectacular and should you try it, you would probably think so too.

So try it, and let me know what you think.

Berry and rhubarb jam

500g raspberries

300g strawberries, hulled

300g rhubarb, peeled, cut to 2cm pieces and cured overnight with 1/2 cup sugar

1kg CSR jam-setting sugar

peel of 1 orange

peel of 1 lemon

1 vanilla pod, split and scraped

(makes 5-6 250ml jars)

mix berries and rhubar in a large bowl with jam setting sugar

place fruit in a large non-reactive pot and gently heat to dissolve sugar

add citrus peel and vanilla seeds and pod

bring to a rolling boil for 5-6 minutes

test to see if jam has set by placing a small amount on a cold plate. It is ready when a skin forms and it fails to run all over the plate (NB this jam is soft set, just the way I like it. You may need to use additional pectin if you prefer a firm set jam)

remove peel and vanilla pod

place in hot sterilised jars (I wash my jars and lids in hot soapy water then place them in the oven set at 120C to dry. I keep them at this temperature until I am ready to fill them with jam)

screw the jar tops on while jam is still hot and place in a cool dark place to store.

How neglectful I have been...

I completely missed out on writing an entry in the month of August and it is not because I haven't spent enough time in the kitchen but rather the contrary. August leading into September has been incredibly frantic with me juggling my role in an increasingly busy commercial kitchen with finding a new home and trying to develop my favourite project at the same time. This juggling act continues...

Anyway, after suffering a period of blog-neglect, I feel compelled to share this luscious little number with you -- a pair of incredibly tender, melt-in-the-mouth shortbread with strawberry flavoured icing sandwiched in between. I named it "Strawberry dream", but later dubbed it "the YanYan biscuit" because they smell so reminiscent of a favourite Japanese snack of mine as a child (and now of my gorgeous little prince whose picture I feature below).

Admittedly, many of my friends with whom I shared my "Strawberry dream" with was not as taken by it as I was, but it remains high on my list of favourite biscuits to eat. If like me, you enjoy delicate sandy-textured biscuits that almost crumble as you pick them up, and have a penchant for nostalgic flavours (like strawberry ice-cream that used to come out of a cardboard carton... gee, now I am really showing my age, aren't I?), then this is the biscuit you have to bake for a trip down memory lane.

strawberry dream

125 g butter, soft and at room temperature
30 g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
130 g plain flour
25 g cornflour
icing
30 g butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp strawberry essence
60 g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsn milk

makes approx 12 filled biscuits

preheat oven to 150C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper

beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence until very pale and fluffy

add cornflour to the mixture and mix well

add flour and mix until combined

portion dough using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon as a measure

roll into balls with your hands

flatten balls to form 3-inch discs

bake for 20-25 minutes until the base are light golden and tops are firm to touch

allow to cool while you prepare the icing

beat butter, icing sugar and both essence until smooth and creamy

add milk and beat to achieve a softer consistency if necessary

apply a tablespoon of icing to the flat side of the biscuit and sandwich with another.

enjoy

Vanilla Cheesecake

I am partial to a light and tangy chilled lemon cheesecake which when made right is just like eating a lush lemon mousse that has a little more substance and body and in my opinion, is just the perfect way to end any meal. My mum on the other hand, loves baked cheesecake so I decided to make her a good one for this Mother's Day. Of course this doesn't mean I am an authority in baked cheesecakes, in fact, quite the contrary, as I have only ever made one successfully under close supervision of someone who knew what he was doing and even so, the results didn't really blow me away. So needless to say, I was a little nervous with how Mum's cake would turn out.


I set to work on this cake rather late last night when I thought mum would be too sleepy to wander into the kitchen with her usual persistent questions which would ruin my surprise for her. I followed the method described by sooishi with a few departures from the recipe stated. Instead of shortbread for the base, I used spicy speculaas and an additional 30g toasted flaked almonds, and I replaced creme fraiche with the same quantity of thickened cream (40% fat). The result was to put plainly - perfect! The top was flawlessly smooth and a rich golden tan which I glazed with strained strawberry jam to achieve a more glassy finish and the interior, a smooth, delicately creamy texture speckled with vanilla seeds. I completed the cake by tossing a few sliced strawberries on its top et voila! Sublime.

(Note: Mum being a traditionalist prefers the taste of digestive biscuits to speculaas but otherwise, she thought I did a great job! Thanks Mum and Happy Mother's Day! xoxo)