Pumpkin jams are a wonderful treat, unfortunately not as widespread as sweets from berries and fruits. The prejudice is probably affecting: how is it, vegetable sweetness ?! Well, it’s worth the risk - it’s dense, luxurious color and wonderful density, jam can not but like, of course, to begin with the smallest. And adults, having tasted and entered the taste, will not give up unusual treats.
Pumpkin jam - general principles of cooking
• Jam differs from jam in a uniform consistency and density. In order for hard pumpkin flesh to boil well, it must first be softened by simmering in a thick-walled pot over low heat or baked in the oven. Then grind through a sieve or beat with a blender until mashed. If, according to the recipe, the vegetable does not require preliminary heat treatment, it is grated in the raw form or twisted in a meat grinder.
• After grinding, pumpkin puree or raw pulp of the vegetable is combined with sugar and delivered according to the recipe. Raw pulp is usually kept for some time, covered with sugar, so that the crushed pumpkin gives its juice better, and the sugar crystals dissolve in it without residue. The pre-baked or stewed grated pumpkin is mixed and put to boil immediately after being mixed with sugar.
• Pumpkin does not have a pronounced aroma and taste, so jams are most often prepared with fruits that have more pronounced taste. Apples and citruses are best combined with it. For a brighter taste, spices and spices, as well as chopped citrus zest, can be added to pumpkin jams.
• Jams made from pumpkin lend themselves well to long-term storage. For harvesting for the winter, pumpkin jam is hot packed in dry, steam-processed jars and hermetically sealed with metal lids. A sealed delicacy, closed with a capron lid, can be stored in the general chamber of the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Pumpkin jam with dried apricots - "Amber"
Ingredients:
• ripe pumpkin - 1 kg;
• kilogram of sugar;
• 5 tbsp. l freshly squeezed lemon juice;
• 300 gr. dried apricots.
Cooking method:
1. Thoroughly rinse the pumpkin with warm water, cut into halves and select the seeds, trying to remove the entire coarse fiber. Next, cut the fruit into slices and carefully cut the peel from them. Do not save, grab along with a thick peel and a light green layer of pulp.
2. Cut the prepared pieces of pumpkin into cubes or medium-sized cubes. Pouring with granulated sugar, put in a saucepan and leave for a couple of hours so that the vegetable gives juice.
3. After this time, pour the filtered freshly squeezed lemon juice onto the pumpkin slices, gently stir and cook on low heat.
4. Rinse dried apricots in hot water, you can scald dried fruits with boiling water. Dry with a disposable towel and cut into slices or strips.
5. Add slices of dried apricots to the pumpkin when the sugar has completely dissolved. Boil everything together, occasionally stirring, for at least a quarter of an hour and turn off the stove.
6. When the jam has completely cooled, but not earlier than after four hours, boil again, boil for 20 minutes and cool again well.
7. After cooling for six hours, bring to a boil again, boil the jam for only five minutes and pour into prepared jars.
Thick pumpkin jam with apples
Ingredients:
• pumpkin pulp - 800 gr.;
• 1.2 kg of sweet autumn apples;
• five glasses of sugar;
• A quarter of a teaspoon of chopped orange peel.
Cooking method:
1. Separate from the hard pumpkin pulp the large-fiber part of the vegetable with seeds. Remove the peel and cut into small pieces. Fold everything in a thick-walled pan with high sides or in a pan with a thick or multi-layer bottom. Put on light heat and bring the slices of vegetable, carcass under the lid, to soften, then cool and grind through a rare sieve.
2. Peel apples, cut into halves, remove the core. Cut the halves into cubes and, as well as the pumpkin, soften the carcass over low heat. Cool and mashed, grinding on a sieve. For grinding, you can use a blender.
3. In a voluminous thick-walled bowl or basin, mix apple and pumpkin puree. Add granulated sugar, but not all, first you need to pour two and a half glasses. Mix the mashed potatoes with sugar well and set to boil on the minimum heat.
4. When the grains are completely dispersed, add the remaining sugar, mix and leave the jam to boil until the desired density. Approximately 10 minutes before being ready, introduce chopped orange zest into it.
Pumpkin jam with lemon, apples and nuts
Ingredients:
• kilogram of ripe pumpkin pulp;
• 700 gr. sweet, preferably autumn apples;
• half a glass of crushed walnut kernels;
• medium-sized lemon;
• half a teaspoon of vanilla powder.
Cooking method:
1. Cut the peeled apples into slices and gently remove the remnants of the core.
2. Hard pumpkin pulp, cut into square pieces and transfer to a pan.
3. Pour half a liter of sugar to the crushed pumpkin, mix and simmer on low heat until the crystals are completely dissolved in the separated vegetable juice. Add heat to medium, bring to a boil.
4. Constantly stirring, boil the slices of pumpkin in syrup for five minutes. Then add the remaining sugar, add apple slices and crushed walnut kernels. Stir well, boil for a quarter of an hour and remove from heat. Be sure to ensure that the sugar is completely dispersed, if necessary, increase the cooking time.
5. After complete cooling, repeat the cooking process with cooling three more times. Each time, bring the jam to a boil and cook for at least 15 minutes.
6. When you are boiling the amber sweet mixture for the fourth time, do not forget to add vanilla and lemon sliced into thin slices.
Fragrant cinnamon pumpkin jam with citruses
Ingredients:
• 450 gr. peeled pumpkin pulp;
• large juicy orange;
• medium-sized lemon;
• granulated sugar - 180 g .;
• cinnamon stick.
Cooking method:
1. Grate pumpkin pulp on a coarse grater, transfer it to a pan. Pour all the sugar at once, mix and let stand for half an hour.
2. Scald citruses with boiling water, wipe dry with a napkin and scrape the zest with a fine grater from them, mix. Then squeeze the juice out of a whole orange and half a lemon and strain it.
3. Pour freshly squeezed filtered juice to the pumpkin, add two tablespoons of chopped zest and put on low heat, mixing well.
4. Put the cinnamon and, periodically stirring, boil the jam for about 50 minutes, until the pumpkin straws are boiled. At the end of cooking, you can additionally beat the sweet mass until smooth with a blender.
Pumpkin jam with kritz and ginger - "Sunny"
Ingredients:
• a piece of pumpkin weighing 750 g .;
• a small lemon;
• medium sized orange;
• 40 gr. fresh ginger (root);
• 400 gr. Sahara;
• a third of a teaspoon of cinnamon;
• half a liter of drinking water.
Cooking method:
1. Grated peeled ginger root and pumpkin with a fine grater or twist in a meat grinder.
2. Dry with a boiling water lemon and towel with a grater, remove the zest from it. Cut the citrus, squeeze the juice. To give the lemon more juice, you can pre-hold the citrus in boiling water for about a minute.
3. Prepare about half a glass of orange juice and filter both freshly squeezed drinks through a sieve.
4. Transfer the chopped pumpkin pulp to the pan, pour in the water, add the whole chopped zest and ginger. Pour in cinnamon powder, pour in citrus juice. Stir and set to minimum heat.
5. Do not forget to stir, boil the jam with a slight boil for about an hour, until the pumpkin is completely boiled. When stirring, try to raise the mass well from the bottom each time so that the bottom does not burn.
6. Pour in sugar, mix thoroughly and continue cooking jam for another 25 minutes. No sugar grains should remain in the finished treat.
A simple recipe for pumpkin jam - "Autumn"
Ingredients:
• pumpkin puree - 1 kg;
• 400 gr. Sahara;
• ground cloves and cinnamon 1/2 tsp;
• a quarter of a teaspoon of ground ginger;
• freshly squeezed lemon juice - 1 tbsp. l
Cooking method:
1. Make mashed potatoes. Wash with warm water and chop the pumpkin into large slices, remove the seeds, and leave the peel.
2. Lay the pieces of pumpkin on a baking sheet covered with parchment and place in a hot oven to bake. After about 20 minutes of languishing at 150 degrees, when the flesh becomes soft enough, remove and cool.
3. Clear the cooled slices from the peel and beat in a puree with a blender. If there is no such device, twist the pulp in a meat grinder, passing through a fine-mesh grate, or grind on a sieve.
4. Measure a kilogram of the finished mashed potatoes and transfer it to a thick-walled bowl for making jam. Add sugar, and with good stirring, start cooking by placing the bowl on a slow fire.
5. In the cooking process, after about twenty minutes, add spices and lemon juice. If the jam you are preparing is too thick, dilute it a little with water, but do not pour it too much.
6. Cook pumpkin jam with a small boil for 45 minutes. The finished treat should have a bright orange color and be practically transparent.
Pumpkin jam - cooking tips and tricks
• Most pumpkin jams are prepared without adding water. If the mass of crushed pumpkin, mixed with sugar, is too thick, add a little drinking water to it. Initially, a thick sweet mixture with long boiling will quickly burn out and the pumpkin will not have time to soften.
• You can verify that the jam is ready in a simple and time-tested manner. Pry a hot mass with a spoon and drop a small drop on a chilled saucer. If a drop of jam does not float when tilted, you can turn off the stove.
• For harvesting for the winter, pour pumpkin jam only on sterile jars and roll up boiled lids. If the lids and dishes are not prepared in advance, the preservation will not be idle for a long time, the jam will mold and may ferment.
