​Cranberry and Chilli Jam

This jam is not the type you eat on toast with butter, and definitely don’t put it in a cake! Chilli jam is sour and hot, and you can use it as a chutney-like accompaniment to cheese or to spice up your canapés. If you want it milder take the seeds out of the chilli, and if you want it sweeter add more sugar.

Cranberry and Chilli Jam

Dietary: Vegan, Wheat free

Makes: 1.5 litres (i.e. 6x250ml jars)

Ingredients:

• 300g fresh cranberries
• 8 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 cloves
• 8 star anise
• 8 long fresh red chillies (150g) each roughly chopped
• 1kg jam sugar
• 400ml apple juice
• 500ml cider vinegar
• 1 sachet powdered pectin

Method:

1. You will need 6 x 250ml sealable jars, with vinegar-proof lid, such as Kilner jar or cleaned jam jars, sterilised (see below).
2. Place the chillies in a food processor and whizz until finely chopped.
3. Sterilize your jars and leave to cool.
4. Place the cranberries, spices, chopped chillies, jam sugar, apple juice and cider vinegar together in a large pan.
5. Heat until the sugar starts to dissolve, then sprinkle over the pectin.
6. Bring the pan to the boil, stirring gently, then leave it at a gentle boil for 10 minutes.
7. Take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool slightly for about 10 minutes before pouring into your jars. The jelly will set gradually and won’t look thick at first, but the added pectin means it will set well.
8. Ladle into your jars. Then seal tightly with a sterilised lid or a rubber sealed top.

Tips:

• The jam is lovely served with cheese and biscuits or as a dip; it is even great in sandwiches.
• It will keep for a year if you jar it in a sterile environment. Once open the jam will keep for about a month.
• You could use red pepper, peach, apricot or any fruit instead of the cranberry.
• Make sure that you use Jam Sugar (which has added pectin) rather than Preserving Sugar (which doesn’t) or your jam won’t set!
• To sterilise jars either put through the hottest wash in a dishwasher or place in a tray of water in a warm oven for ten minutes. When jarring the jam be sure to use sterilised ladles, funnels etc. as well or bacteria may get into the jars. The cleaner and more sterile your equipment is when making this the longer the jam will keep.