Marrow and plum jam - how to make sure it keeps?

[shirlthegirl43]

I made marrow and plum jam last night but didn't use all the sugar the recipe asked for as we have been finding the home made jam too sweet. I used some certo pectin to help with setting to avoid boiling all the flavour out too and have a gorgeous red scrummy preserve with a slightly soft set. How can I ensure it doesn't go off too quickly now as it has about 7/8 of the sugar the recipe called for?

[sewer rat]

It won't go off - 7/8ths of the sugar is plenty - be different if you had halved the sugar content but 1/8th isn't gonna make that much difference.
Of course , if you're really worried, send it to me and I'll eat it ALL to make sure it doesn't go off

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks for that Rat! It looks really lovely, I might just have to take a picture - deffo my most successful jam yet even if it didn't quite set enough.

I am hoping to give it as Christmas pressies so glad to hear it should keep okay. Not sure how well it would travel to you or I would pop some in the post!

[Hans Mum]

Shirley,please could you post the recipie i have a huge marrow to be used and i can raid mums plum tree, thanks

[shirlthegirl43]

The recipe is really easy. It is from a book 'Let's Preserve It' by Beryl Wood (ancient book from 1970).

Recipe states 2lb of prepared marrow
2lb of plums
4lb sugar

Peel, seed and dice marrow; put in bowl with 2lbs sugar and stand overnight; put in pan, simmer till nearly tender; add stoned plums (crack some stones for kernels if liked) and cook till soft; add remaining sugar and kernels, stir till sugar dissolved, bring to boil, and boil slowly till set.

I had a bit more marrow than that so just weighed it after preparing and then used that weight as the reference point. I would suggest if you don't like your jam too sweet, add the last lot of sugar gradually and stop when it is sweet enough for your tastes. I used Tesco Market value dark plums and the jam is a lovely colour. I also only boiled for about 10 mins after adding the last of the sugar then used Certo pectin to get a soft set as I didn't want to boil all the flavour away.

[Hans Mum]

thanks shirley will be having a go at that this weekend