Basic Jam

Name: Basic Jam
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 3 pounds fruit (see options, below), cut into 1-inch chunks if large, stone fruit pitted; 1.5 pounds sugar (3 ⅓ cups); Coarse salt; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

By

Martha Stewart Editors

Updated on May 16, 2017

Prep Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

45 mins

Yield:

5 cups

The skins from stone fruit will contribute color and flavor to the jam. But for a smoother mixture, you can start by peeling peaches or nectarines: Carve an X in the bottom of each and plunge them into boiling water for 30 seconds, then transfer them to an ice-water bath to stop the cooking; the skins will slip off. For plums, just lift the skins out of the cooked jam with a fork.

Ingredients

3 pounds fruit (see options, below), cut into 1-inch chunks if large, stone fruit pitted
1 ½ pounds sugar (3 ⅓ cups)
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

Stir together fruit, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved and mashing fruit with a potato masher. Add lemon juice; continue to boil, stirring frequently, until bubbles slow, chunks of fruit show at top, and mixture clings to a spoon but falls off in clumps, 10 to 12 minutes. Skim foam from top.
Ladle jam into clean containers, leaving 3/4 inch of headroom. Let cool completely. Cover, label, and refrigerate up to 1 month, or freeze up to 1 year.

Variations

Mixed Berry

1 pound each raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries

Nectarine-Raspberry
2 1/4 pounds nectarines
12 ounces raspberries

Peach
3 pounds white or yellow peaches, peeled (optional)

Peach-Plum
1 1/2 pounds each peaches, peeled (optional), and plums

Plum
3 pounds plums

Raspberry
3 pounds raspberries