Small batch, low sugar jam

I like jam on the tart side, which means supermarket jam is too sweet for me. One of the joys of making jam is having complete control over the level of sweetness. More sugar, less sugar. It’s up to you.

If you start with very sweet fruit, as ripe as can be, little sugar is needed. That was the case with homegrown plums we were given by a friend who lives in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Jalisco. Even though they were refrigerated, over several days they became too soft — a little squishy — but the flavor was still excellent. Just sitting in the fridge, they were trying to turn into jam. It didn’t take too much more to complete the job by adding half a mango, also very ripe, and a bit of sugar.

I tried to cut the flesh off one plum — they weren’t freestone — just to see if it was doable. It really wasn’t because the plums were too small and it would have been tedious and messy to remove the pits. Instead, I cooked them whole, first scoring the plums several times so that the skin would break up more easily in the jam. The mango was chopped, not too finely. One quarter cup of sugar was tossed in with the fruit, which drew out the juice. Two tablespoons of lime juice were stirred in to add pectin. Here in Mexico, lemons are rarely seen unless you are at a large supermercado in a large town, so in Mexico limes are the go-to citrus when a lemons are called for.

To digress a bit, our little town of Mascota now has its own supermercado, Bodega Aurrera, a big box grocery store. An Auto Zone is going in right next to it. We can only hope Mascota can retain its small town charm as chain stores encroach. No doubt the prices are lower at Aurrera because they buy in volume, and some town folk will appreciate lower grocery bills, but its arrival wasn’t greeted with joy by everyone. We checked out Aurerra Bodega and they didn’t carry lemons. In fact, they didn’t have any produce at all. We will continue to give Abarrotes Pepe, our locally owned and well-stocked grocery store, our business as long as it can hold out.

In past years, we have sometimes encountered sidewalk vendors outside of Pepe’s selling local plums, but not this year. So it was especially welcome to be given these plums, small, purple, and bursting with flavor as only homegrown fruit can be. Sixteen small plums and half a large mango added up to four cups of fruit. Perhaps one quarter cup of sugar would not be sweet enough for your taste, or perhaps the fruit you have on hand isn’t as sweet, so adjust the sugar accordingly. Or add stevia. Twelve drops of liquid stevia added at the end of cooking brought the sweetness level up without adding additional sugar. This jam is not for long-term shelf storage. It doesn’t have enough sugar to preserve it, nor will it be processed in canning jars. It is just a small amount of jam to use up a small amount of very ripe fruit.

Baking sourdough bread this week timed perfectly with jam making. A carton of local requesón — ricotta cheese — added up to a tasty trifecta. Are any of you sourdough bread bakers? If so, I recommend Pantry Mama’s Whole Wheat Rye Sourdough Bread recipe. Step-by-step instructions produce a perfect loaf. And if you are up for making your own (cheater) ricotta, here’s a recipe I posted in 2018. Honestly, I only made it that one time. Any number of stores here sell fresh, ranch-made requesón that is so good. And I don’t have my own cows anyway to have the requisite 10 gallons of whey to make the real thing.

Low Sugar Plum-Mango Jam (2 half-pint jars)

• 4 cups total whole plums and peeled, chopped mango, or any other jam friendly fruit

• 1/4 cup sugar, or to taste

• 2 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1. Simmer fruit with sugar and lemon or lime juice for 30 minutes over low heat, breaking up the plums with a potato masher or the back of a spoon and stirring occasionally.

2. If you would like the jam a bit thicker, simmer 5 or 10 minutes longer to allow water evaporation and thickening, stirring every few minutes.

3. Pick out plum pits with a fork, or remove them when you spread jam on toast and they are easy to see and remove.

4. Spoon hot into 2 half-pint jars and cap tightly.

5. Refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze.

Notes

~ Liquid stevia will add more sweetness without adding its characteristic bitterness if used sparingly. I added 12 drops to the pot after it had cooked.

~ Stonefruit pits add flavor and pectin to jam. It was surprisingly easy to pick them out of the finished jam, so don’t hesitate to cook the plums whole. Remove the pits with the flick of a fork when you spread jam on your toast.

~ As the fruit and sugar mixture simmered, the plums and mango fell apart into a pleasing jam texture. I chose not to use a food mill, as I like the lumpy texture, but be sure to remove the pits before eating!

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