13 Comments

Sounds delicious! How do you think this would work with raw honey rather than sugar?

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Great question! I mean, I think it would taste absolutely off-the-chart delicious! But I wouldn't dare take a guess at how much honey you might need - a lot though, I reckon. Have you tried using honey/maple syrup to make jam in the past?

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Nope, I’ve never made jam before. I tried a fig “jam” the other day that was just water, figs, and lemon juice… that burned to a crisp 😅

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Haha! Oh dear. Probably the sugar does have some "jamming" quality, beyond merely adding sweetness. In the end, cooking, like gardening, is all about trial and error!

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That's true! I'll find a way to make it work haha

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Sounds delicious! Although I think my garden follows different rules than your garden - I’ve never had much luck with peppers. Each pepper plant usually produces just a couple fruit while my tomatoes and courgettes go crazy until I’m making regular veg deliveries to all the neighbors by mid-summer. I took a break from peppers this summer but maybe I’ll give them another go next year!

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Oh no, I'm sorry to hear it! If nothing else, maybe a small plant on a sunny windowsill would fare better? Sometimes I think I take for granted the fact that small London gardens are blessed with peculiarly warm conditions (to the extent that you can call the urban heat island effect a blessing).

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That sounds fun and easy. I've been freezing my chilis (cut in half, seed, flash freeze, then put in bags). I haven't considered anything else because I'm really not up for the faffing associated with hot water bath canning. Is that part of your process or are you literally just putting it in jars or any other airtight container?

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Literally just in jars! I mean, we do sterilise the jars first, which does admittedly add a degree of faff. I guess if you were only making a small batch and were confident of eating it quickly, you could get away with skipping the sterilisation...

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Yum!

Another good one is Habanero Guava jam ;)

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Mmmm, yum! Incredible how simply reading those three short words can kickstart some serious anticipatory saliva-production.

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I can attest to this being a delicious addition to all kinds of things (including simply served over softened cream cheese as a dip). We've made this from a different recipe a number of times over the years and it's always popular. A little goes a long way.

In my alternate version, apple cider vinegar is used instead of white vinegar and it specifies a quantity of chopped peppers instead of a quantity of whole ones. This version of the recipe seems much easier to put together.

Does it matter at all the overall size of the various peppers?

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Well, the whole peppers do end up getting blitzed in the food processor, and if you like a "clean" look to your jam, then you'd probably want to de-seed them first, which maybe isn't altogether different from the method you're describing...

I wouldn't worry too much about the size of the peppers, though the ones we tend to use are fist-sized, if that helps.

As for the apple cider vinegar, I can absolutely see how that could add a whole new layer of deliciousness to the jam. I might give that a try next time round!

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