It’s Easter and that means a looooong weekend - 5 days without work, whoopee!! And the weather couldn’t be more perfect; sun, only the occasional breeze instead of the usual storm-like winds, and temperatures above 15 degrees. Amazing! How could anyone not be in a spring mood?
With all that free time on my hands, and inspired by the beautiful weather, I decided it was time to make something again! A nice give-away/ gift for the hosts for the family Easter brunch we’re attending tomorrow. So I decided on a nice jam. My first thought was strawberry-rhubarb (since I still have some rhubarb in the freezer), but I’d rather use fresh rhubarb when it is in season. So I decided on an exotic spring jam with mango, pineapple and kiwi, which turned out quite yummy!
Recipes for jam aren’t usually very complicated, since you just mix fruit with the necessary amount of jelly/ jam sugar. In Germany, they have 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 sugars, which basically means you use 1, 2 or 3 parts fruit and 1 part sugar. In Denmark, I’ve only found one type of “syltesukker“, and you can either use it 1:1 (i.e. 1 kg of fruit and 1kg of sugar), or you make the low-sugar version with 1kg of fruit and 500g of sugar (which I usually do, it turns out sweet enough and the gelation works just as well.
So here’s my recipe for this lovely, exotic and fruity jam:
Exotic spring jam
(makes ca. 5 small-medium glasses)
300g mango
300g pineapple
400g kiwi
50ml fruit juice
3 tsp. rum
500g jelly sugar
Peel the fruit and cut into small pieces. My kiwis were not overly ripe and therefore still a bit sour, which worked out well to even out the sweetness of the mango and sugar. If you use very ripe and sweet kiwis, maybe add some lemon or lime juice.
Add some water or fruit juice (I used a “tropical” juice mix) and 3 tablespoons of rum. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10-15min, stirring frequently.
Take off the heat and blend with a stick blender. Bring to a boil again and let simmer for another minute or two. Then take off the heat and fill into prepared glasses. Put lids on tightly and turn upside down for 5mins. The turn back around and let the jam cool off completely. Store in the fridge (especially after opened). Enjoy!