Fig Jam

We have a fig tree in our garden. It produces hundreds of delicious, sweet little fruits every single year. I discovered I am allergic to them on the very day I had them for the first time. How nice /s.

Luckily, I can eat them cooked. So I make jam. Jars and jars every single year, which we then eat with copious amounts of cheese. This recipe is inspired by Anna Maria Larsson’s version.

Ingredients

  • 10 to 15 fresh figs (ca. 500g)
  • 250g sugar (1 cup)
  • 125ml water (1/2 cup)
  • 1 lemon

Instructions

  1. Before starting, sterilise the glass jars and lids by placing them in a large pot full of (cold) water and heating up until it starts to boil. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then take them out of the water and place over a clean dish towel.
  2. Rinse the figs, then cut into bits (the larger the bits, the chunkier the jam).
  3. Mix the figs with the juice from 1/2 lemon and set aside.
  4. In a saucepan, boil the water with the sugar in low heat, stirring until it looks syrupy (about 105°C).
  5. Incorporate the fig + lemon mix into the syrup, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the jam starts to thicken. Remember it will thicken a bit more once it cools down, so remove it from the heat a bit before it reaches your desired consistence. – During this step, feel free to taste the jam and see if it needs more lemon juice. Just remember to cool down the spoon a bit, before you burn your tongue!
  6. (optional) Remove the saucepan from the stove. If you want a silky smooth jam, transfer it to the blender, then put it back on the stove to boil and thicken a bit more. For my taste, I like my jam all rustic, with the tiny little seeds, and tiny chunks of fruit, so I skip this step.
  7. Pour the jam into the clean and sterilised jars and put the lids on immediately, while crazy hot. Let them cool for a few hours until they feel ok to touch, then put in the fridge.

Unopened, the jars last quite a long time. I don’t know how long and I am not a food preserve specialist and I take no responsibility if someone reading this dies of food poisoning!, but this recipe makes about 5 or 6 small jars, which in my household last several months – up to a year. I’ve opened jars of jam a year later, and it was as good as on day one.

Now: once open, they do not last long! There are no food preservatives or chemicals in this. The sugar will help out, but the opened jar of jam should be consumed within a week or two at most. If you see anything remotely weird, or hairy, or stringy, or smelly in the pot, throw it away.

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