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The sweetness of our pantry
The fragrant sweetness is obtained from ripe fruits. The sugar we use must also be processed as little as possible.
Whether we make it with sugar or flour, sweetness should not be missing from our pantry. Homemade sweetness has many benefits for the body and is only good to enjoy on cold winter days. Before we prepare the autumn jam, it is good to choose fresh and well-baked fruits. Ideally, we should choose fruits from our garden or from small local producers who do not rely much on industrial chemicals in orchards.
Some tips for the most fragrant sweetness
To prepare the most fragrant sweetness, you need juicy and well-baked fruits. Wash the fruit thoroughly and place in a large saucepan with twice the volume of fruit and sugar. It is recommended that 1 Kilogram of sugar be added to 1 kg of fruit, then cover the dish with a wet towel.
Leave the dish covered for a few hours or even until the next day (after the fruit has left its juice), then put on a low heat for 2-3 hours. In order to ensure that the sweetness does not sugar, it is recommended to add in the composition two tablespoons of lemon juice or 1 g lemon salt dissolved in a little water.
During boiling, the sweetness foams, but it will not rise, it is just a syrup that makes air bubbles. To ensure that the sweetness does not caramelize or sugar, we stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the sweetness is ready, it will form delicious bubbles. Leave to cool, covered with a moistened towel and well drained. When completely cooled, pour into jars and store in cool and dark place.
Some recipes for fragrant sweetness
Grape sweetness
Ingredients: 2 kg grapes, 1 kg sugar, juice from a lemon, half a vanilla bar, 3-4 glasses of water.
Preparation mode: cut the grapes in half and remove the kernels with a toothpick. Cover the grapes with the sugar and leave in a covered dish for one hour. Add the water and vanilla, then leave to boil, with a low heat, periodically taking the resulting foam. When the syrup binds, pour the lemon juice and leave for another 5-10 minutes on the heat. When ready, leave to cool and place in jars. I also use another method, namely, after I put the jam in the jars, I put them in the oven (without caps) for a few minutes until a crust is formed. After I turn off the oven, I leave them a little longer and then I put the lids on them.
Sweet pears with vanilla
Ingredients: 2 kg pears, 2 liters of water, juice from half a lemon, 500 grams sugar, one sachet of sugar with pectin (optional)
Preparation: cut the pears into large pieces and put to boil in a pot of water. Allow for 50-60 minutes to soften the pears. Place the mixture in a gauze, under which we place a bowl in which the concentrated juice of pears will be collected overnight. For every 600 ml of juice, we add 500 grams of sugar and juice from half a lemon. Leave the resulting mixture on the heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and leave to boil. When ready (looks like a jelly), leave to cool and put in jars.
Sweet figs
Ingredients: 1 kg figs, 500 grams sugar, 100 ml water, juice from half a lemon, 50 grams vanilla sugar.
Method of preparation: figs are washed, their scods are cut and cut into slices. Make a syrup from the water and sugar and leave to give in 2-3 boils, then add the figs. Gather the foam and add the lemon juice and vanilla sugar. Leave to boil until the composition binds. Take off the heat, leave to cool, then put in jars.
Sweet plums and apples
Ingredients: 1.5 kg plums, 1.5 kg apples, 2 kg sugar, 625 ml water, half a cup lemon juice, one teaspoon cinnamon.
Method of preparation: peel the apples, remove the kernels from the plums and apples. Leave to boil over low heat until the fruit is pulp only. Add the sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Leave to boil until the sweetness has a thick consistency. Once it’s cooled down, put it in jars.
Plum sweetness with walnut and cinnamon
Ingredients: 3 kg plums, 600 g sugar, juice from a lemon, 2-3 teaspoons cinnamon, 100 g chopped nuts, 2 sachets vanilla sugar.
Method of preparation: wash the plums, remove the pips and place in a double bottomed saucepan. Add the sugar to the plums until they have left their syrup and softened, then put them on a low heat. Add the lemon juice, over the plums, for a vivid and beautiful color. When the plum jam has boiled, we squeeze the foam that forms with a wooden spoon. We leave the sweetness on the fire until it gets the desired consistency. Before we take the sweetness off the heat we add the vanilla sugar, cinnamon and shredded walnut. After the sweetness has cooled a little, we put it in jars, which we infiltrate in the oven at 120 degrees, for 15-20 minutes. Let the jars cool down overnight.
Sweet quince
Ingredients: 1.5 kg quince, 1 kg sugar, 1 liter water, one lemon.
Preparation mode: Guts wash very well to remove the puff, cut into slices, after which each slice is cut into small strips which we then cut into cubes. After cutting the quince cubes, put them in a bowl on the stove along with the water, sugar and lemon juice, over medium heat. Leave to boil for an hour, until we notice that the water partially evaporates, and the liquid begins to become sticky, which orange color. After boiling the sweetness of quince, put in clean jars and leave to cool naturally.
Sweet chilli esicapia and capia peppers
Ingredients: 900 grams red chilli (cleaned of seeds and cut), 500 grams capia peppers cut into cubes, 1 liter vinegar 9 degrees, 1 kg sugar (for 5 servings).
Preparation mode: for the sweetness of chillies and capia peppers, we must arm ourselves with great patience. We need gloves to protect our hand skin. We wash the peppers, clean them of seeds and chop them into small pieces. After we have finished the cutting operation, put in a saucepan, the rice and sugar and let it boil for about 30 minutes. Then put the chilli and capia pepper and let it boil for about 1 hour over a low heat. Then we put the jam in the jars, put the lids on and wrap them in a blanket until they cool down. This fragrant sweetness is incredibly good! We can serve it in various steak sauces or in stews, soups, etc.
