sweet delights

january jam

Last year I wasn’t in the jam business.

(It’s mainly because the year before, i. e. 2020, I was a real big jam cooker during summer working w/ strawberries, apricots, raspberries, red currants … So I had a lot of jam jars waiting in my pantry to be opened.)

When starting in 2022 I realized that there was no more home-made jam – so out of a moment I decided to cook jam. Which jam?

January isn’t quite a season for fresh fruit, however, pineapple is fine especially in winter & there is delicious fresh ginger on the market. So I decided to try a pineapple-ginger jam – a fusion of sweet pineapple and spicy ginger, creamy w/ little bits of fruit, and a color like sunshine.

It’s essential to work with ripe pineapples, only ripe pineapples. The pineapple I used was ripe and had already lost her leaves. The inside was juicy, however, not brown.

… and my trusted food store had just in time got a delivery of fresh ginger …

Before starting with the jam mess:
Did you notice that there is a new feature on Instagram?

End of last year I noticed that some Instagram posts had more than one author meaning that 2 different Instagram accounts had sent this post. The feature is called “co-author”. You can design a post in one account – and then before publishing you may invite another account to join. When your invitation is accepted, the Instagram post is published combining both accounts as the source – and the post is to be seen in each accounts.

I work with 3 Instagram accounts and now I’m able to combine my posts. I really like this new feature.

Coming back to my jam …

I wanted to cook only a small batch of jam – meaning 1000 g fruit & 500 g preserving sugar (2:1). This should end up in 6 small jam jars.

I peeled & trimmed the pineapple and chopped the chunks into small bits. The same happened to the ginger – especially discard all the wooden parts!

My pineapple was about 600 g net of fruit bits; I added about 200 g chopped ginger.

I mixed the basics and added 50 ml lemon juice & 150 ml pineapple juice. Altogether it should be 1000 g. If the pineapple is only about 500 g just fill up w/ 100 ml pineapple juice.

Half of the mess was puréed w/ a handheld blender in a separate high pot & poured onto the rest.

Finally the preserving sugar is due & all is mixed w/ a spoon.

If you hadn’t cared for clean jam jars w/ twist-off caps so far do it now before starting the boiling session.

I brought the mess to a boil & let it cook for at least 3 min (for you: let it cook for … whatever the package of the preserving sugar recommends).

Then I filled the bubbling mess in the jam jars, screwed the lid on & put the jam jar upside down. The jam may be stored in the pantry.

I got 5 jam jars à 250 g … and a bowl filled w/ the rest for tasting.

My pineapple-ginger jam is spicy, really spicy – waking your senses in the morning! Remember that there is about 200 g of ginger … If you like it less spicy just reduce the amount of ginger to … 150 g or so.

Enjoy!

january jam
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Servings: 6 jam jars à 250 g
ingredients:
  • 1 pineapple (about 600 g peeled & trimmed)
  • 200 g ginger (peeled & trimmed)
  • 50 ml lemon juice
  • 150 ml pineapple juice
  • 500 g preserving sugar (2:1)
equipment:
  • handheld immersion blender
  • 5-6 jam jars w/ twist-off caps (à 250 g)
how to:
  • Clean 6 jam jars à 250 g (or correspondingly) with twist-off caps.
  • Peel & trim the pineapple; chop the pineapple (small bits!).
  • Peel & trim the ginger; chop the ginger (very small bits!)
  • Weigh the fruit, add the lemon juice & fill w/ pineapple juice; you'll need 1000 g – not more!
  • Blend about the half of the mess w/ your handheld immersion blender.
  • Put everything in a pot (big enough!) & add the preserving sugar.
  • Mix & bring to a boil. Let it cook for at least 3 min resp. refer to the recommendation on the package of the preserving sugar.
  • Fill the bubbling mess in the jam jars, close at once & turn upside down.
Notes
Jam jars: there will be 1500 g of the mess – so you need 6 jam jars à 250 g. You may also work with jam jars of any other size. Just adjust the quantity of the jam jars. Important: always use twist-off jam jars.
Jam: for 500 g preserving sugar (2:1) you may work with 1000 g fruit resp. fruit & juice mix. 
Lemon juice: 50 ml are always fine.
Ginger: you may reduce to 150 g or even add about 250 g – if you like it very spicy! Adjust the pineapple correspondingly.
Pineapple: use as much of the fruit as possible – fill up w/ pineapple juice. Finally pineapple, pineapple juice, lemon juice & ginger altogether have to be 1000 g.
Cooking time: refer to the package of the preserving sugar for recommendation concerning the time while the jam should cook bubbling. 
The jam may be stored in your pantry for at least 6 months; if a jam jar has been opened store it in the fridge afterwards.