Apple Pie Jam from leftover apples?
This Apple Pie Jam is a spontaneous one, made with some forgotten-at-the-bottom-of-the-fruit-basket apples, which no one was keen to eat any more. There were 7 such apples with a few wrinkles on but still good to eat. They yielded 3 medium-sized jam jars, like the ones in the photos.
You can preserve it… or not
Because the amount of jam was not massive I decided not to preserve it but keep in the fridge and have it fresh. You can keep fresh jam for about 3-4 days. The apple pie jam was so amazing that it took us 2 days to get it done. In case you wanted to keep it for longer, the preserving instructions are here.
Preparation
Wash, cut into quarters, peel and core your apples. Then cut each quarter into half lengthways and chop the pieces roughly into smaller chunks. You do not need to be very accurate.
The cooking
Put a medium-sized, heavy-based cooking pan on medium heat and add the following:
- Sweet apple chunks, 2 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of cinnamon,
- Pungent a pinch of ginger, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, 2 allspice berries, crushed with pestle and mortar,
- Salty 2 tablespoons of cold water (to prevent the apples form sticking to the bottom), a pinch of salt,
- Sour 2 tablespoons of lemon juice,
- Bitter a pinch of turmeric.
Stir all the ingredients. Bring the apples to the boil and reduce heat to minimum. Let it simmer covered for about 30 minutes stirring once or twice until the apple chunks fall apart. The texture is up to you. If you want the apple pie jam with some apple chunks then stop cooking at an earlier stage. If you prefer smooth consistency then cook it slightly longer.
Just before the end of cooking take the lid off and let it simmer uncovered to evaporate the excess liquid and thicken.
Try your apple pie jam with the crepes, Japanese pancakes or the oven pancake.
