I have so enjoyed the lovely sunny warm weather we have been having lately, it just makes everything feel so much better somehow.
My garden is awash with daisies, every year there are more and more. They take over the pathways and pop up through every crack and crevice. They are not shy, but push forward with smiling faces, ready to great the sun and nod hello to anyone who brushes past.
Getting from the cottage to HQ means treading a careful path through this white and yellow cloud. I never want to damage them, I don’t even pick them for the house unless they have fallen by themselves.
They make me think of Mum, her favourite flowers.
They pop up through the mint bed mingling with the sweet stong scent and rough leaves. I am using mint in my recipe today and the daisies are so sunny they just seem to go so well with this fun and bright conserve – Minted Mirabelle Plum Jam.
Some may pick and say these are not mirabelles just yellow plums, but for me they are very like the mirabelles I used to pick off the trees in France so I am borrowing the name for my jam.
I made this one a couple of weeks ago after staying at Carey’s and buying a huge tray of these lovely little plums at the Sunday market for only £1. They have since been turned into icecream, chutney and this jam. Not one went to waste.
This is a very simple jam to make. It starts off bright sunshine yellow and darkens as it cooks, ending up this wonderful amber colour. This jam is a little on the tart side so the mint adds an interesting twist. Add more sugar if you want a sweeter jam, but honestly with these measurements you get a lovely mix of that tangy sweet and sour that I think shows a jam is honest and real and not off the supermarket shelf.
- 1 kilo/2¼ lb yellow/mirabelle plums
- Juice and grated rind of ½ lemon
- 500g/1 lb 2 oz granulated sugar
- Bunch of fresh mint chopped
- Cut plums in half and remove stones
- Put stones in plastic bag and crush with rolling pin.
- Tie crushed stones up in a piece of muslin so they don't get loose in the jam
- Mix the sugar, plums, the bag of stones and the lemon rind and juice together along with the chopped mint leaves and set aside in a large pan to macerate for an hour. This allows the juice to be released from the plums and the sugar to start dissolving.
- Bring the pan up to the boil and keep boiling for about 20 minutes or until it has reached setting point - test a spoonful on a well chilled plate, when set has been reached it will wrinkle when you run your finger through the jam after a few minutes.
- Scim off any scum and allow to cool a little before spooning into sterilised jars.
- This recipe should make about 6 small jars.
This jam is lovely simply spread on toast or crackers. It has a good strong flavour so can stand well with rye breads etc. Also good on top of icecream and stirred into yogurt too.
A real taste of summer sunshine.
Karon x
Oooh stirred into yogurt, now you’ve got me wanting some 🙂