I once created a cooking class, called 'Zen in the Kitchen'. Then wrote a book called the same. Then started the group with that name and the blog came after. All this happened in Turkish. Now is the time for the English version of it. Let's see what will cook here!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Homemade jam, for spring breakfasts


What is better than homemade jam? Homemade jam on homemade bread. Or homemade cake. I'm serious. And you know I'm serious.

The story began last week. I had a guest from Canada. We had no jam at home. But I had little time to make this easy, fragrant jam. (I call it jam but you may prefer to say jelly.) And yes, I had the ingredients. Two handfuls strawberries, two apples. That was enough for a jar of this lovely creation. I cut the green parts of strawberries, I peeled the apples and diced them. I wanted extra fragrance, something I used to do: Few cloves and a pinch of nutmeg would do it. And it did. I added 5 tablespoons of sugar. This was enough for me. If you prefer it sweeter, add some more. I covered the pot, boiled the jam, lowered heat and uncover. I cooked it for 10 minutes, not more. For the texture, I mashed the ingredients with a potato masher. And there it was, my fragrant little jam. I discarded the cloves and put the jam in a jar. And that was the end of the jam story.

What then? Then one day I wanted something sweet with my afternoon tea. Luckily -these days I'm the luckiest one since there is always cake at home which I bake once a week- I had my sugarless banana and peanut cake in the fridge. Yes, I didn't add any sugar. The sweetness comes from the bananas and the dried figs came as a gift from a friend. There it was, few slices of cake, few spoonfuls of jam and there I was, melted in the moment...

6 comments:

My Turkish Kitchen said...

Tijen,
What a nice jam story! :)
I try to make my own jam too. It turns out really well but I have never tried more than one fruit to make it.
It looks very delicious.
Iffet

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A wonderful post! Homemade jam is the best! Nice picture and cake!

Cheers,

Rosa

tuki said...

I love your blog! Thankyou!!

sarah said...

lovely little jam story!

tuki said...

Thank you for comment

Anonymous said...

hi
Tijen, I like fruit jam
and this recepie sound delicious
I will try.
Thank you