2 days Ago By [email protected] (Tiffany Betts)
Jam is a versatile condiment that can be incorporated into breakfast dishes or eaten as a sweet treat. While store-bought jam can invoke a feeling of nostalgia, it doesn't quite have the same effect that homemade jam has on the senses. However, making homemade jam can be time-consuming.
Fortunately, chef Dominique Ansel , who owns Dominique Ansel Bakery (home of the famous Cronut) gave Daily Meal some advice about how to prepare the fruit so that making jam at home is faster. When it comes to berries — such as for a mixed berry jam recipe with blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries — Ansel says, "We always marinate fresh ripe fruits with sugar overnight, to allow the juices to render." This culinary technique, called maceration, enhances the sweetness and texture of the fruit while dissolving the sugar and preventing clumps from caramelizing when you cook it.
And, he notes that you can use this prep method for stone fruits too, "though some stone fruits should also be peeled, and they should be sliced before you marinate in sugar." Recently Ansel teamed up with Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto to debut an exclusive layered dessert that appears to defies gravity. The dessert is Ansel's take on an ice cream sundae.
Choosing the best fruit and other homemade jam-making tips Dominique Ansel says that "you can also add additional flavors or ingredients, like lemon zest or fresh herbs" to the marinating fruit. For instance, you could add freshly grated ginger for a beginner peach jam recipe along with the fruit. "Once the juices have rendered," Ansel explains, "then you can cook the jam.
" As far as ripeness goes, "Fruits should be as ripe as possible for the best flavor and sweetness level," he says. "The more ripe the fruit, the less sugar you'll need to add." Even if you see some telltale signs that your fruit is going bad – a brown appearance, mushy texture, and shriveling or wrinkling skin — you can whip up some jam with the overripe fruit instead of tossing it .
Ansel also explains that you should "TASTE the level of sweetness, ripeness, and acidity levels first and foremost before adding sugar [to the fruit]. You can always add sweetness in the process, but it's much harder to take it away." And, using granulated sugar is the essential tip you need to give homemade jam the perfect texture because other sweeteners — like agave, brown sugar, and honey – have more pronounced flavors and contain different amounts of moisture, which makes them cook differently.
The lemon juice tip will help you get your homemade jam's texture just right , too, because the pectin in the fruit needs the acidity to activate and become firm..
