The flavours in this jam are absolutely delicious. It didn’t set as well as I would have liked, possibly because the gooseberries were very ripe and therefore quite sweet. I used to be paranoid about my jam setting but have since learnt that it usually spreads ok even if it is a bit runny and it can also double up, warmed, as a sauce over vanilla ice cream. Delicious!
Pectin is used to help jam set for those fruits that have a naturally low pectin level. Here are a few facts about pectin
- Pears, citrus fruits, plums and gooseberries are examples of fruit that contain high levels of pectin, whereas berries such as strawberries, raspberries etc have low levels.
- Citrus fruits and apple pomace are the main raw materials for pectin production.
- You can increase the pectin when making jam by adding some unripe fruit, lemon peel, commercially produced pectin or substituting preserve sugar for jam sugar. The latter has pectin already added.
I found the recipe for this jam on the BBC Food website. The addition of balsamic vinegar was a stroke of genius as it gives a fantastic depth of flavour to the finished jam.
Here is a link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/strawberryjamwithatw_13701
Tasty Advice 