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How to make Swedish rhubarb and ginger jam

The Local Sweden
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How to make Swedish rhubarb and ginger jam
Rhubarb and ginger jam. Photo: John Duxbury/Swedish Food

This very Swedish jam works great together with a slice of cheese. This recipe was shared with The Local by food writer John Duxbury.

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Summary

Makes: 4 medium jars

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 25 minutes

Total: 40 minutes + 2 hours soaking

Ingredients

1kg (8 cups) rhubarb

1kg (5 cups) jam sugar

1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice

75g (3oz) stem or crystallized ginger, finely diced

25g (1oz) fresh peeled giner

1 tsp butter

Method

1. Sterilize three or four clean jam jars by placing in an oven at 130C for ten minutes.

2. Wash the rhubarb and cut into two centimetre lenghts. Place in a large bowl.

3. Add the jam sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and finely diced stem or crystallized ginger.

4. Finely grate the fresh ginger into the bowl. Give everything a good stir, loosely cover with a shower cap or clingfilm (food wrap) and leave to macerate for two hours, stirring occasionally.

5. Pop a few saucers in the freezer.

6. Pour the macerated fruit into a preserving pan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, and bring to the boil. Increase the heat and boil steadily, stirring occasionally so that it doesn't burn. Cook until the rhubarb is tender and the conserve has reached setting point – this should take between 10 and 20 minutes.

7. Remove the pan from the heat, leave to one side for five minutes and then remove the scum with a metal spoon. If any scum remains, add a teaspoon of butter and stir into the jam to dissolve the remaining scum.

8. Using a jam funnel, ladle into the sterilized jars and seal.

Tips

- To test for a set, turn the heat off and move the pan to one side. Drop ½ teaspoon of the jam onto a cold saucer, leave it for 30 seconds, then hold the saucer on its side. For a firm set, the jam should wrinkle when pushed with your finger.

- Don't worry too much about the setting point. The jam sets fairly well anyway, but if you overcook it slightly it will become a bit darker and more chutney-like, which you might actually prefer.

- I use quite a lot of ginger because my wife loves ginger. If you would prefer a more subtle hint of ginger, reduce the quantity of stem or crystallized ginger to 50g (2oz).

This recipe is published courtesy of John Duxbury, editor and founder of Swedish Food.

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