Strawberry jam, quince pulp and raspberry/blackberry jelly

Strawberry Jam:

10 kg strawberries (only Senga sengana), remove 5 kg of water using a rotary evaporator. Optionally, puree 10% to 20% of the strawberries and mix them with the others. They need not to be cut.

500 g refined sugar

50 g pectin

5 g ascorbic acid

Juice of 10 limes

50 ml Grand Marnier

 

Thoroughly mix the pectin, sugar and ascorbic acid to avoid lumps, then add lime juice and Grand Marnier and bring to the boil. Keep at 90 °C for 15 min until the pectin has dissolved completely. Heat the strawberries to 100°C in the convection oven, add them to the mix and heat to 95°C. This procedure helps to avoid long heating times and a loss of quality in the cooking pot. The heat should be spread evenly in the pot (stir!). The mass is allowed to arise briefly but it should not boil with bubbles for four minutes – this would result in a nightmare with a sea of froth. Stir one last time and fill into sterilised glasses. The fruits will be everywhere in the glass, instead of only in the upper half, with the head of the family having to content himself with the jelly on the bottom after the tasty bits have been enjoyed by the rest of the family.

 

 

Quince Pulp:

22 kg quinces, yield 15 litres of juice, reduced to one third: 5 litres of concentrate

250 g refined sugar

25 g pectin

5 g ascorbic acid

10 limes

 

Pick the quinces in time, before they fall down. They should not be too ripe and have no brown patches inside. Wash the fruits and rub off the fuzz. Do not peal them. The core should remain, only remove black or rotten areas. Cut them in half and place them into a strainer with the cut facing down. Place the strainer into a collecting tray. Cover and steam in the convection oven for four hours at 100°C to 130°C. Do not use excess pressure. This will result in too runny juice. Keep the drained (thick!) juice, remove the solid parts by centrifugation and boil down the liquid supernatant to one quarter together with the first portion. If there is no centrifuge available, the juice can also be squeezed. The final droplets are always the best. Thoroughly mix the pectin, sugar and ascorbic acid to avoid lumps, and add the sieved lime juice and 10% of the quince juice. Heat to 90°C for 15 min until the pectin has dissolved completely. Mix the remaining juice, heat to 95°C and fill into sterile glasses. Do not boil, since this will result in too much froth. If a pot with outlet and stopcock at the bottom is at hand, the hot pulp can be tapped without bubbles! My grandmother used to cut the quinces into pieces and boil them in water. The flavour was gone due to the dilution effect. There is no comparison with this quince pulp.

The jelly can be used as a sandwich spread or as a tasty addition to gravies. Normal consumption is one glass per breakfast!

 

 

Raspberry and Blackberry Jelly:

10 kg berries

1 kg refined sugar

100 g pectin

10 g ascorbic acid

Juice of 20 limes (sieved)

100 ml Grand Marnier

 

Put the berries into a juice centrifuge at room temperature. Centrifuge the seedy mass several times until almost dry. Press the juice through a sieve to remove the seeds completely. Thoroughly mix the pectin, sugar and ascorbic acid to avoid lumps. Then add 10% of the berry juice, the sieved lime juice and Grand Marnier and heat to 90°C for 15 min until the pectin has fully dissolved. Mix the remaining juice, heat the whole to 95°C and fill into sterile glasses. Do not boil since this will result in too much froth. If a pot with outlet and stopcock at the bottom is at hand, the hot jelly can be tapped without bubbles!