A recipe for raspberry jam (with frozen raspberries)

It was so grim outside this weekend that I needed a little culinary pick-me-up. We found some frozen home-grown raspberries in the back of the freezer, and decided to make some jam with them. I didn’t have high hopes – those berries might have been there for some time - but it made the most delicious fresh-tasting, tangy jam.  

I adapted the recipe from the River Cottage Cookbook. It's very easy and the only kit you need is a deep pan, four or five jam jars, and some jam pot covers.

Raspberry jam with frozen raspberries
1kg frozen raspberries
500g jam sugar

It doesn’t matter how many raspberries you have, just weigh them and use half the weight of jam sugar. If you didn’t freeze any local raspberries last year (and I realise you probably didn’t) just buy some from the supermarket (they are much cheaper than fresh raspberries). Jam sugar is sugar with added pectin to help the jam set.

 Spread the raspberries out on a clean tray and leave them to defrost for 30 minutes or so. You want them to defrost a little but not so much that they turn to mush. While you’re waiting, sterilise some jam jars. Either put them through the dishwasher and then leave them to dry, or wash them in soapy water and put them in a low oven for 15 minutes.

To make the jam, put the raspberries and sugar in a deep pan. You want it to be less than half full so you don’t end up with jam spattered everywhere. Turn the heat on low and stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat, bring to the boil and boil hard for five minutes. Voila, your jam is ready.

While the jam’s still hot, pour into the jam jars and put one of those wax discs on the top. Then put on a cellophane cover or a screw-top lid.