4 recipes that use jam sugar, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Confiture de fraises, takes 45 minutes. It is most often cooked with lemon juice, almond extract and apple.
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Fig jam is made in late summer in Provence and the south-west, when the trees are heavy with violet figs, and it is served with breakfast and, very often, with cheese, especially goat's cheese and ewe's cheese from the Pyrenees. The figs are cooked with lemon and vanilla until thick and glossy. The common mistake is undercooking it, so it stays runny. Chef's tip: figs are low in pectin, so add a grated apple or use jam sugar.
Black cherry jam is the pride of the Basque country, made in June with the black cherries of Itxassou, where the village holds a cherry festival every year, and it is served with a slice of ewe's-milk cheese (Ossau-Iraty) after a meal, or used to fill the gâteau basque. The cherries are stoned and cooked until the jam is dark and glossy. The common mistake is leaving in stones; count them out. Chef's tip: wear an apron and stone the cherries over a bowl to catch the juice.
Strawberry jam is the jam of French breakfasts, spread on buttered baguette or tartines and stirred into fromage blanc, and families make it in early summer when the Plougastel and Carpentras strawberries are cheap at the market. Macerating the fruit overnight in sugar keeps the berries whole. The common mistake is cooking too long, which darkens it and loses the fresh taste. Chef's tip: test for a set on a cold saucer; when you push it with a finger, it should wrinkle.
Apricot jam is the most loved jam in France, made in July with the apricots of the Roussillon and the Rhône valley and used for breakfast, for glazing fruit tarts and for filling croissants. Halved apricots are macerated with sugar, then boiled quickly so they keep their bright orange colour. The common mistake is stirring too hard, which breaks up the fruit. Chef's tip: add a few drops of almond extract at the end for the taste of the kernels; do not add the kernels themselves, which are not safe to eat in quantity.
French
