Sunday, November 21, 2010

Pumpkin and Orange Spiced Jam

I got this little jam pot from My Favorite Store (AKA: Anthropologie). I could easily spend my whole paycheck there. This pot is in the shape of an apple, and the stem is actually a little wooden spoon. It looks so cute in my refrigerator right now.


I couldn't wait to make a jam to put in it. A friend from pharmacy school had a recipe that I was dying to try. Pumpkin and Orange Spiced Jam seemed like the perfect jam to make this season, so I tackled it one Saturday. It was delicious, but I think I put a little more than a pinch of nutmeg. Oh well, it's still good.... just a little nutmeg-y.


Ingredients:
2 small pumpkins (about 3 pounds total), peeled, seeded and cut into small pieces
2 cooking apples, cored, peeled and chopped into small pieces
6 3/4 cups sugar
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
zest of 1 orange
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Directions:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan add the pumpkin and apple. Pour in 1/4 cup water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft.
My note: I used way more than 1/4 cup water. I put enough water to barely cover the pumpkin/apple mixture. I drained most of the water out, reserving about 1/4 cup juice after the pumpkin and apple softened.

Mash coarsely, keeping a few chunks of pumpkin whole.

Add the sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 20 minutes or until the jam thickens and reaches the setting point.

Ladle into warm sterilized 1/2 pint mason jars. leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Store in a cool, dark place and refrigerate after opening.
Yield 3.5 to 4 pints (7 to 8 half-pint jars).

**Another note: Suzanne said that you can also bake the apple and pumpkin at 375-degrees for about an hour instead of boiling it.

Source: Suzanne Piper Cooley (Originally from Preserve It! by Linda Brown... also found on Food.com)

2 comments:

Miss Nirvana said...

I am going to make this next year! Thank you for sharing.

Lauren said...

Okay, I thought my Thanksgiving menu was set, but obviously not. I NEED this. ;) But - I only have canned pumpkin. Any suggestions for adapting it to use canned? Thank you!