How to cook apple jam?
On the popularity of apples in our country once again can not speak. There are many ways to harvest this fruit for the winter.Apples are pickled, dried, boiled compotes and confiture, jams and jams, even frozen. But the most common variant of the preparation - this is undoubtedly jam.
Opening in the winter a jar of fragrant apple jam, you can feel the tart and fragrant aromas of summer. It is harvested both for filling buns with pies, and as a tasty independent dessert.
Many housewives are often lost among a large variety of recipes. In this article you will learn how to cook the most delicious apple jam according to the classic recipe. And fans of non-traditional tastes will love the various options with the addition of unusual ingredients.
Properties and calorie
There are a lot of useful qualities of properly brewed apple jam. A high concentration of vitamins of different groups and various trace elements make it an indispensable product.
First of all, apples are rich in pectin - a substance that helps remove the accumulated harmful cholesterol from the body. In addition to the fight against cholesterol, pectin accelerates metabolism in the body, improves peripheral circulation, has some sorbent properties.
Vitamins of group B, the presence of vitamins A, E and P, in combination with iron and potassium, helps in the fight against cardiovascular diseases, improves the condition of the skin and hair, has a beneficial effect on muscle tone and nervous system of the body.
Apples - hypoallergenic fruit. This feature allows such a dessert to diversify the diet of young children. And if you replace sugar with fructose or honey, then diabetics will also be able to eat it.
Apples containing acid, can adversely affect the condition of people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. However, given these features, you can find a suitable recipe for such patients. For people with increased acidity of the stomach, use the fruits of sweet varieties, and for those who have acidity, on the contrary, is reduced - sour apple varieties.
A unique factor is also the ability of an apple to normalize stools, both for constipation and diarrhea. Many plant fibers absorb excess moisture with toxins in the latter; At the same time, they help the advancement of the solid masses that provoked obstruction.
Nutritionists recommend eating apple jam for dessert, replacing them with candy and cake. Many do not eat it, therefore, carbohydrates will not exceed the norm. A rough fiber contributes to the proper functioning of the intestines, which is important when dieting.
Calorie traditional jam is 265 kcal. But it changes significantly, if sugar, included in the recipe, is replaced by honey. At the same time, the issue of complex sugars, the main enemy processed into fats, disappears.
Selection and preparation of products
The choice of apple variety depends on the recipe and the desired result. First of all, apples should be homemade, not imported, bought in a store. They are of little use for this purpose.
Late varieties (Antonovka, Semerenko) have a dense texture, do not boil soft, retain a beautiful appearance after heat treatment. They are perfect for making jam slices.
If the hostess decides to cook according to this recipe from soft varieties (White filling), then the fruit should be taken immature.
Sour varieties contain more pectin. They make excellent jelly-like options. For those who like sour taste, it is recommended to use green, not very ripe fruit.
Overripe apples lose their juiciness, become loose and tasteless. The jam of them also does not have high taste, so it is better not to cook from such fruits.
We should also tell about the wild, heavenly and Chinese apples. They are small, preserve them whole, together with the stem and the core. Such a jam has an unusual and exquisite appearance, it surprises with a wide taste palette.
The process of preparation of the product also depends on the selected recipe.The general rule is that the apples must be thoroughly washed, you can use a brush, and then dry them thoroughly.
Removing the peel, it is worth remembering that a significant proportion of vitamins is lost. Blanching in boiling water for a couple of minutes can be a good alternative. In the same way, particularly hard varieties can be processed. The water remaining after blanching is used to prepare the syrup.
Apples are peeled from the core, cut into pieces of the same size or scrolled through a meat grinder. It all depends on the imagination of the hostess and the method of preparation chosen by her. In some cases, the fruit must be whole, not damaged by a worm. If the task is not in the aesthetic appearance of the finished product, then any kind of fruit will do, the main thing is to carefully remove all damaged parts.
Careful attention must be paid to the correct choice of dishes for making delicacies. Both the dimensions of the container and the material from which it is made are important. A good choice will be wide pots and bowls with small sides. Jam in them will warm up evenly. In deep and narrow dishes it will have to interfere more often, which will certainly affect the appearance and useful qualities of the product.
It is better to refuse aluminum and copper basins, as the acid contained in apples reacts with these materials in a chemical reaction. Jam will become dangerous to eat because of the heavy compounds caught in it. Perfectly enamel ware, as well as stainless steel tanks. At the present time, housewives often rescues the bowl of the slow cooker.
Modern technology greatly simplifies the culinary process, delivering pleasure while cooking.
It is necessary to take care of careful sterilization of the container for preservation. Banks need to take capacity no more than 500 mlotherwise, mold may form in the finished product.
When all the products and dishes are prepared, you can begin the mystery of cooking an incredibly tasty and healthy dessert.
Recipes
Each hostess will be able to choose a recipe for the soul from a large number of variations. The time-tested classic recipes will appeal to admirers of traditions, and unusual combinations of products will certainly not leave indifferent lovers of exotic and non-traditional tastes.
"Five minutes"
The crazy rhythm of life of modern women often leaves no time for winter preparations. In this case, a simple recipe for quick and “live” jam will come to the rescue. The short time of heat treatment allows you to keep the maximum amount of vitamins and nutrients.
Apples for this recipe fit any. Fruits may be slightly tainted or bumped. It is necessary to carefully clean these areas. Whether to leave the peel is a private matter of the owner. Here it will not play a big role.
Prepared fruit must be cleaned from the core and chop. The shredding method is also not critical. It can be slices, cubes; You can grate the grated apples.
For sweet varieties, 600-800 grams of sugar will suffice, and for more acidic ones, from 1 to 1.2 kilograms per 1 kilogram of apples.
In the first stage, prepare the syrup. To do this, add 1 cup of water to the sugar. Then dissolve sugar over low heat, stirring constantly. In a container of boiling syrup, place the prepared apples and boil for 2-3 minutes. If the jam seems too cloying, you can add a pinch of citric acid.
After that, set aside the container with the jam aside and proceed to the sterilization of the jars with lids. At the final stage, the jam is again boiled, poured into prepared dishes and corked with lids.
"Amber"
When preparing this transparent delicacy, one will have to show restraint and patience, since the process is laborious and energy consuming. But the result is more than compensates for the time spent.
Apples are suitable only solid and whole, without wormholes. The finished jam will be transparent, the slices are whole, so the quality of fruits plays a significant role.
The stronger and greener the apples, the more beautiful and transparent the slices will be.
They are cut to a width of about 1 cm. The sliced fruits are layered in an enameled container, sprinkled with fine sugar. The proportion of sugar to apples in this embodiment is 1: 1.
Poured apples are best left for the night, so that they start a sufficient amount of juice.
Put the prepared mass on the fire and bring to the boil. After boiling the cooking time is only 5 minutes. Then remove the container from the heat, cover with a cotton towel and let it stand until cool. Repeat the procedure 3 times. The ideal scheme is morning-evening-morning.
Immediately pour the hot jam to the top into prepared sterile jars and seal with lids. After turn them upside down, waiting for them to cool.
It is necessary to take into account that from 0.5 kg of apples you get a half-liter can of the finished product.
"Apple-Orange"
This recipe will appeal even to those who, in principle, do not like apple blanks. Jam with orange will get rich bright color, with a pleasant aftertaste. Citrus is so transforming taste that not every sophisticated gourmet can correctly identify all its components.
- 1 kg of apples;
- 0.5 kg of sugar;
- 1 orange weighing 250 grams;
First you need to profile an orange. Carefully peel and remove the white subcortical layer, which gives bitterness in the finished dish. Remove all bones and clean the walls. Cut the finished orange fillet into small cubes. The process is not complicated, but takes some time.
After this begins the stage of preparation of apples. Fruits peel, core and shred the same cubes of the same size. At the bottom of the pelvis, in which the jam will be prepared, pour 50-100 ml of water. Pour apples, slices of oranges, add sugar, mix and place on the stove. After boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring the mass every 5 minutes.
The jam will be ready when the syrup becomes thick and sticky. We boil the boiling delicacy in a sterile container and cork hermetically.
"Rhubarb jam with apples"
Sweet winter dessert is almost always associated with fruits and berries. But there are original recipes, for example, from the stem of rhubarb. An incredibly useful vegetable, in combination with lemon and apples, will provide the body with an enormous dose of vitamins.
When choosing rhubarb stalks, you should know a few secrets:
- the most tender petioles in the plant from May to mid-June. Harvested later stems will be too tough;
- in July, the petioles become too acidic due to the accumulated oxalic acid;
- young stalks about 20 centimeters long are ideal for winter harvesting.
1 kilogram of petioles clear of the rough top layer, and cut into small pieces. With a thin lemon, remove the zest - this is easy to do with a grater. Chop 300 grams of apples. In an enamel container, mix the zest, rhubarb and apples. Add 200 ml of water.
After boiling, boil the mixture on low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Then add 1 kilogram of sugar and cook for another 10 minutes until the mixture thickens. Pour the hot jam into a sterilized container and seal it.
"Apple-cherry with almonds"
Classic recipe with a twist. Very easy to prepare. For this delicious dessert you will need:
- 0.5 kg of cherries;
- 0.5 kg of apples
- 1 kg of sugar;
- juice of 2 lemons;
- 50 grams of almond.
Separate pure cherries from the seeds, add sugar and leave for 24 hours to let the juice run. After 24 hours, add grated peeled apples and lemon juice to the cherry and boil the mixture over high heat for 5 minutes after boiling.Fry the almonds in a dry frying pan and add to the jam, pour into prepared container and close with lids.
"Apricot jam with pears and apples without sugar"
Great dessert for diabetics, which can be used as a filling for sweet pies and buns. To prepare it, take:
- 2 kg of apricots;
- 1 kg of apples;
- 1 kg of pears;
- 1 cup of honey.
Peel apples and pears from the peel and core, cut into small pieces. Separate apricots from seeds. Honey dissolve small amount of warm water. Mix all ingredients and put the container on a small fire. Bring mass to a boil, remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
Repeat the procedure several times until the jam thickens. Pour into sterile cans and seal hermetically.
"Apple jam with chokeberry"
Jam made from a single black fruit has a rather specific tart flavor. In combination with apples appears soft in taste, rich pleasant aroma. Rowan's bitterness is perfectly leveled by sweet varieties of apple tree.
- 1 kg of blackfloat;
- 900 grams of sweet varieties of apples;
- 2 kg of sugar;
- single orange peel;
- 250 ml of water.
At the preparatory stage, sifted and washed black chokeberry chop with a blender. Grate the orange zest on a fine grater. Remove apples from the seed box and peel. Cut into medium sized lobules.
Combine all the ingredients, add water, mix thoroughly and put to simmer until thick. Pour the hot jam into jars and seal.
"Apple with cinnamon"
Apples with cinnamon - a classic combination in many desserts. Prepare such a jam is not difficult, even to those who have never engaged in blanks.
- 2 kg of apples;
- 1 kg of white sugar;
- 100 grams of brown cane sugar;
- 1 tbsp. a spoon of lemon peel;
- 250 ml of water;
- 1 stick of cinnamon.
Cut the peeled apples into small cubes. Grind the cinnamon with a blender, rub the lemon zest on a fine grater.
Combine apples, lemon zest, crushed cinnamon and covered with white sugar in an enamel container. Boil the mass for 30 minutes, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon. Add cane sugar, mix thoroughly and continue cooking. The finished jam will get a nice caramel color and a thick texture. Hot jam packaged in sterilized containers.
"Jam from melon and apples"
The fragrant summer aroma of this inimitable delicacy delivers many pleasant moments on a winter evening. It will not leave anyone indifferent. Having tasted a spoon of this jam, it is impossible not to fall in love.
- 0.5 kg of apples;
- 1.5 kg of melon;
- 0.5 kg of sugar;
- 1 tsp. lemon peel.
Peel the melon, cut it in half and remove with a tablespoon of fiber with seeds. Grind it in a blender or mince. Peel the apples into small cubes.
Crushed melon, combined with sugar, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a spoon. Boil the mass to the consistency of honey. Add apple slices, lemon zest and mix gently. After boiling again, boil for another 5 minutes and pour into sterilized containers.
"Apple-lingonberry"
There are legends about useful properties of lingonberries. A symbiosis of apples with lingonberries can become a winter remedy that will help in the fight against vitamin deficiency, colds and the general weakness of the body. Ingredients:
- 1 kg of sour apples;
- 1 kg of cranberries;
- 2.5 kg of sugar;
- 2 glasses of water.
Rinse the lingonberries thoroughly under running water. Go through, get rid of small debris. Pour boiling water for a few minutes, then fold the berries into a colander. Thanks to such manipulations, lingonberries lose excessive bitterness. Apples chop cubes.
Pour water into the prepared container, add sugar, put the future syrup in a boil over medium heat.Add the cranberries and apples to the boiling liquid and allow it to boil again. Then put the fire to a minimum and cook for about half an hour. Pour thickened hot treat into jars and seal tightly with lids.
"Apple-banana"
Even from such an exotic fruit as a banana, you can easily make a great jam. Bananas in their pure form have too cloying taste, and apples perfectly balance it with a slight sourness.
- 2 kg of apples;
- 1 kg of bananas;
- 700 g sugar;
- 100 ml of water.
Pour the peeled and sliced apples with water and boil them on the fire until soft. Peel and chop the bananas while the apples are cooked. Once the apples are ready, add granulated sugar with bananas. Boil briefly, until sugar is dissolved, and then chop the ingredients in a blender. Boil the mashed potatoes for about 20 minutes and spread them on the jars.
"Paradise apples"
Among the abundance of recipes stands out paradise apple jam. Small candied fruits not only complement the winter tea, but also become a beautiful decoration of cakes and pastries.
- 1 kg of apples;
- 1 kg of sugar;
- 1 stick of cinnamon;
- 250 ml of water.
Rinse the apples, sort out, leave the tails. Pierce the fruits with a toothpick in several places, otherwise the peel will crack during cooking.
Prepare the sugar syrup and set it aside from the stove. Dip apples into it and set aside for 4 hours. Apples are soaked with syrup and let the juice.
Return the container back to the stove, bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes. Set aside again, allowing to cool completely. Repeat the procedure 3 times. During the second stage, add cinnamon stick. The treat prepared in this way will allow the apples not to boil soft and the syrup to remain transparent.
Another feature of the recipe lies in the fact that the jars that are already cooled are laid out on the banks.
Useful recommendations
Every housewife wants to stock up on winter healthy and tasty sweets to please her family with cold, cloudy evenings. Experienced chefs know how to quickly prepare inimitable jam at home, which will be stored for a long period of time without losing their magical flavor and taste.
- Carefully observe the proportions of sugar, which is a preservative. By reducing its amount, you risk getting fermented jam, and its excess will kill the apple flavor.
- If mold forms on the surface of the jam, it can be removed carefully and the product boiled over. For storage, it is no longer suitable, but for the filling quite fit.
- Do not rush to throw away candied jam. If it is heated in a pan with hot water, then the dessert will acquire its original appearance.
- Apples pick dry, not in rainy weather. Otherwise, the fruit, absorbed moisture, will make the food watery.
- Stir the jam with a wooden spoon with a long handle. Wood is a natural material that does not interact with products and does not change their taste characteristics. Such jam will not oxidize, which is possible after contact with a metal spoon. A long handle will help you not to burn yourself during manipulations.
- Stir jam, spoon with convex side up. This will allow you to gently touch the pieces of fruit without damaging their appearance.
- Be sure to regularly collect the foam that forms on the surface during cooking. Your jam will remain transparent.
- Banks fill the weight to the brim. This will help avoid the ingestion of bacteria that can spoil the finished product.
- In order to avoid temperature drops, pour hot jam into hot sterilized dishes, and cold into cooled ones.
- Roll up the jars upside down to cool. It is better to store them in a dark cool place, thus, safety increases significantly.
There are a number of subtleties in the sterilization of containers. To start, the banks must be thoroughly cleaned and checked for chips and cracks, and then proceed directly to the sterilization process itself.
- In the microwave. Very fast and convenient way to disinfect. Pour clean filtered water into the jars, it will be enough if it covers the bottom by 2 cm. Set the microwave power to 800 W and turn it on for 3-5 minutes. During boiling steam will be released, which disinfects glassware.
- In the oven. The method is also very simple, although it takes a little longer. Put the washed jars wet in the oven. Heat them at a temperature of 160 degrees until completely dry.
- For a couple. The oldest and proven method. Pour water into the pan, put a metal sieve on it, and a sieve on the cans upside down. Sterilization takes about 15 minutes.
To learn how to make an unusual apple masterpiece jam, see the next video.