Of course you can use regular rhubarb in this recipe and still make a delicious jam, but it will not have the same blush pink colour. If the centre of the lid pops up when released, it isn’t sealed properly. I have two solutions to this. If you have several unsealed jars, you can open them all and reboil the jam. If there’s just one, put it in the fridge to eat straight away. Again, this works best with a little practice. The great benefit of making small batches of jam is that by making little and often, you learn to recognise when the jam is done and will be able to see when it is ready by its appearance.

Don’T Rush The Cooking Process. Simmer the quinces slowly to fully extract their flavors and achieve the desired consistency. Whilst you can use any of the above tips to help you to set your jelly fast, here is the step by step process I usually follow. Bring the quinces to a boil in water that barely covers them. Cover and gently simmer until tender. I always make sure that I leave a lot of space between the jelly pots or glasses and also between all my other food in the fridge. Ideally you want to clear out one shelf in your fridge, so that you have enough space and you get the cold air circulating around the jelly. Add ice cubes to a large container Avoid Over-Stirring. Stirring too much can cause the jelly to become cloudy. Stir gently and only when necessary.Ginger – Optional. I like a hint, but not too much. You can use fresh ginger root, jarred stem ginger in syrup or crystallized ginger. In a deep saucepan with a weighty bottom, combine 1lb/454g of white granulated sugar per 1pt/570ml of juice.

Make up the jelly with 1/3 boiling water (instead of 1/2 water as usually) and stir to dissolve the jelly cubes in a large metal or glass bowl Ginger – Use root ginger, stem ginger or crystallised ginger. If using crystallised or stem ginger, you can chop it finely and leave in the jam but if you are using a chunk of raw root ginger, take it out. I love a piece of Thai ginger or galangal. Sterilize Jars And Lids. Properly sterilize your jars and lids before filling them with the jelly to ensure longer shelf life and food safety.

We’re heading into the most fun part of the year where there are lots of friends getting together, family barbecues, festive parties and so on – all of which often require you to bring a plate. When jelly reaches the setting point, transfer it using a funnel and ladle into warm, sterilized jars. Strawberries are one of my favourite fruits. Sweet, juicy but firm and so fresh, I have loads of recipes on this blog for the strawberry lover. This Strawberry sponge cake is an even more elegant version of the same flavours. Is it cake or tart? Pour the milk mixture over the biscuit base and return to the fridge to set for a further 30 minutes. If you have a lot of other food in the fridge and on the top of that you are trying to cool down and set a large jelly mould, your fridge might struggle a bit. If you can, turn down the temperature of your fridge to say 0 Celsius or even lower to lower the temperature of your fridge.

Step Four – Transfer the rhubarb and sugar mixture to a large saucepan (about 8″ / 20cm diameter) or preserving pan, and simmer gently until all the sugar is dissolved. This will take about 5-10 minutes. It is important to simmer to dissolve the sugar. This will prevent the jam from crystallising at a later stage. The pieces of fruit will still be whole for now. I doubt you would have enough left to freeze anyway. Since this is so light, you can serve up largish portions of this and still feel like it was a light dessert. I get anywhere between 6-8 serves from mine. In a measuring jug, dissolve your jelly in just enough boiling hot water to fully dissolve the jelly. Don’t worry if there are some stubborn lumps remaining; these are perfectly safe and won’t affect how long it takes your jelly to set.Add the rest of the water or liquid (part of this can be iced water or ice cubes, but weigh or measure correctly the amount before adding it in). Use slightly less water or liquid if you want your jelly to set firmer. You can also get a very large container, add loads of ice cubes and place the jelly mould on top of the ice cubes. Place the whole container in the fridge. The icecubes will give the jelly a bit of a head start. Use freezer to set your jelly If you haven’t experienced biting into a deliciously cold jelly slice square in your life then you’re missing out. A three-layered cheesecake (without being an actual cheesecake), this jelly slice recipe is incredibly easy to make and is always a hit with a crowd! The jelly slice recipe is always a hit with the masses My jam has gone mouldy. This can happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps the jar wasn’t sealed or you didn’t sterilize the jars. It can also happen if you used bruised or damaged fruit. Throw the jam away as the taint goes far beneath the surface. Lush, ripe strawberries are all piled into a sponge flan case and topped with simple jelly to hold it all together. It’s vibrant, sweet, fresh and incredibly light.

Homemade jelly should take around 4 hours to set in the fridge. However, it is possible to get jelly to set in as little as 15 minutes if you use a freezer. The traditional way to test for jam set is by dropping a little onto a chilled plate. Before you start, put a small plate in the freezer to chill. Once the jam is boiling, you can start testing. Drop a little jam on the plate and let it cool. When you push your finger through, look for a wrinkle ahead of your finger. When you see this, your rhubarb jam is ready. This technique takes a bit of practice. Pectin, available in liquid and powdered forms, is a cheap, easy-to-find gelling agent made from fruit. It helps jellies and jams to set firm.A thumb sized piece of ginger per 400 g fruit will make a jam with a strong but not overpowering ginger flavour. It’s easy because I cheat! A mousse need something to help it set. It could be egg whites (which I use in Easy Chocolate Mousse) or gelatine, which is fiddly to use. This is an eggless mousse using a jelly to make it set. Key ingredients in Easy Strawberry Mousse If the set is too solid, but the flavour is good, you can add a little water and recook. Be careful, though, as it is easy to caramelize the sugar. To avoid an over-stuffed pantry, I make my own self-raising flour by adding baking powder to plain flour. either version works in this sponge flan recipe.