I mentioned in Monday’s post that we’ve been relocating Cyclamen hederifolium tubers from the bottom of our garden (the area from which we avert our eyes for the time being) to where we can see them and admire their dainty flowers. Autumn is the best time to move them and, as they’re undemanding little plants, they should cope with the dry, shady conditions near our boundary hedge and spread themselves around.
C. hederifolium flowers are described by the RHS as having ‘large flowers in shades of pink’. Ours are not large – they are 1.5cm at most – but they are pink. I love the way that the stems emerge from each tuber tightly wound up in coils and slowly uncurl to reveal the flowerheads. These, in turn, are folded up like miniature umbrellas and they twist to open. They really are quite beautiful little plants and a welcome sight when the rest of the garden is starting to slow down.
As well as a sprinkling of pink from the Cyclamen, there are other splashes of colour at the bottom of the garden. There’s a large Cotoneaster horizontalis heaving with berries. Is this a sign that we’re in for a very cold winter?
Totally oblivious to the possible big chill ahead, our raspberry plants continue to provide us with scrumptious fruit. I picked another colander-full at the weekend and decided to make jam. Now, I used to think that jam-making was for advanced cooks, something that involved specialist equipment, thermometers and laboratory-style working conditions. But that was before I met my friend Mary, whose passion is preserving, and she dispelled my jam-making fears.
This is Mary’s recipe and it is quite possibly the easiest jam you can make and one to try if you’ve not made jam before. Obviously, if you’re advanced at jam-making just skip the next bit and look at the lovely end result.
Work on the basis of roughly 1kg raspberries to roughly 1kg sugar (or a little less if you like a slightly less-sweet jam, like I do) and the juice of 2 lemons, and you won’t go wrong. My 600g fruit/550g sugar made three 370-g jars of jam. (1kg fruit will make about 6 jars. Have one spare just in case.) You can also make this with frozen raspberries – just cook for about 10 mins in step 2.
Three jars of easy-peasy raspberry jam
600g raspberries, washed to remove bugs etc
550g white granulated sugar
juice of 1 large lemon
a knob of butter
1. Wash your jars and lids in hot, soapy water, rinse well, place them onto a baking tray and into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 150 degrees C. Put a clean saucer into the freezer.
2. Tip your prepared fruit and the lemon juice into a large saucepan (or preserving pan if you have one). Heat gently, stirring occasionally, for about 5–7 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat, add the sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then add the butter.
4. Return the pan to the hob, turn the heat up and cook at a rolling boil (see above) for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat while you test for a set: spoon a blob of the jam onto your cold saucer, pop it back in the freezer for a minute, then push it with your finger. If it wrinkles slightly, you’ve reached setting point. If not, boil again for a few minutes more and test again.
6. When you’ve reached setting point, remove the tray of jars from the oven (they’ll be sterilised after 15–20 minutes in the oven). Carefully ladle jam into each jar, ideally using a funnel to minimise splashes. Put the lids on loosely (you can tighten them as the jars cool). Leave to cool and set completely.
That’s it. Thirty minutes at most and you’ll have delicious, fragrant jam which you will need to hide at the back of a cupboard if you want to save it.
acoastalplot 
This sounds like a great way to make jam and far easier than I always imagine it will be! Hope that your cyclamen all settle in well and produce some beautiful flowers for you! xx
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You should give it a go Amy. Just make sure you have everything ready and go for it 🙂
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Love the curly cyclamen – they remind me of ferns. How awful that I’ve never looked closely at them before and just admired the pretty flowers.
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I only noticed when we started digging them up. They’re usually tucked away in the undergrowth before the flowers peek out, so it’s easy to miss.
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Licking my lips!
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Raspberry jam, my favourite with a nice scone.
I think a lot of berries is an indication of the summer we have had rather than the winter ahead. Anyway it is still very mild at the moment, if a bit damp.
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Gosh, isn’t it? I had to take off my coat on this morning’s dog walk and I was still hot. Lots of berries for the birds if we do have a cold snap, which is good.
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Never seen a Cotoneaster covered with berries like that. Too bad they can’t also be made into jam.
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It is completely covered. Everything that can bear fruit seems to be doing so in abundance in our garden this year.
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Inspired by your industry to plant Cyclamen too but found some lovely white ones which allowed me to feel a bit Vita.
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White ones will stand out beautifully in a shady spot.
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Cyclamen come with a bonus of gorgeous leaves
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They are gorgeous, aren’t they?
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We have a cotoneaster horizontalis growing against a wall in a shady spot in the garden and it’s beautiful at this time of year. The birds feed on the berries throughout the winter. I also used to think that jam making was very complicated but had to have a go because we have loads of fruit at the allotment which was packed into the freezer and I had to do something with it all. I might try doing the raspberry jam.
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Do try it Margaret – it’s so pleasing to make jam with fruit you’ve grown.
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So much pretty colour!
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Ooh enjoy your jam, it will taste even better made with home grown berries!
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It tastes pretty delicious and I’ve hidden a jar to bring out in deepest winter.
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Beauty can be found in the smallest things. I love the way you have captured the twirling stalks of the cyclamen! On our walk today I noticed the bright berries of the cotoneaster in the village gardens it did look spectacular! There is nothing like homemade jam, I’m lazy and use the bread maker when I make mine! Sarah x
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I had no idea you could use a bread maker! How intriguing.
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Your cyclamen are lovely, what a good idea to move them by a path. I find the ants move mine around the garden and they pop up all over, even in the grass. Haven’t the raspberries been wonderful this year. I picked another large pot yesterday and have tucked away a few jars of jam too. I follow Hugh F-W’s method which uses half the amount of standard granulated sugar to fruit and I boil for 5-7 minutes depending on whether I want a looser or more set jam.
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I’m still learning about jam – it’s good to know you can use a lot less sugar. I’ll have to look up the HF-W recipes. Thanks Sarah.
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Cyclamen are so pretty aren’t they.
That’s exactly how I make most jams, I just wish we ate more than a jar a year of the stuff, as it is I rarely get my jam pan out.
Lovely to catch up here. I hope you’ve all had a good half term.
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Thank you Annie. We get through quite a lot of jam…
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That looks like a really good, solid jam recipe. You can’t go wrong if you follow that. I don’t know that I’ve ever made raspberry jam come to think of it – I must give it a go. I’ve heard a few people say lately that we’re in for a really cold winter. It’s hard to believe when it’s as mild as it has been! x
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Oh this recipe is genius. I’ve only ever made jam once and had to psyche myself up to (I fear boiling sugar). This demystifies it. Thank you! Oh and it would be lovely if you joined in with Making Winter. Looking forward to it…
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It’s so easy, Emma; do try it if you have time. Use a long-handled wooden spoon for stirring and ladle for potting and you’ll be fine. Making Winter is a really nice idea, so I’ll definitely join you at some point.
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