Recipe: Homemade Roselle Jam

Making roselle jam gives me great satisfaction. Firstly, the roselle we use to make the jam is grown in our own garden (hence no chemicals). Homemade jam is also pure, made from fruit and sugar only without any extra ingredients such as preservatives or coloring. Last but not least, my whole family loves homemade roselle jam, and they would spread it on their toast or crackers every morning whenever there is a jar in the fridge.

Homemade roselle jam, great with scones too

I've made roselle jam a few times now. The first time I made it was with whole roselle calyx, hence we ended up with some texture in our jam. The next few times, I blended the roselle calyx first before boiling it with sugar. My family prefers the blended version.

A few tips about jam making that I picked up while reading some cookbooks:

1. Use a stainless steel pot when making jam.

2. When making jam using tough-skinned fruit, the fruit should be simmered and softened first before adding sugar as sugar has a hardening effect.

3. To test if the jam has set, you can either use a sugar thermometer (the setting temp is 220F/105C), or place a teaspoonful of jam onto a frozen plate and if a crinkly skin is formed, then it has set. Another way of determining if it has set is something I learnt from Vivian's post - use your spatula and draw a line in the centre, and if it has set, the line can stay for a few seconds before disappearing.

This homemade roselle jam is slightly tart, which make this a really appetizing spread. You can control the amount of sugar you put in too, I usually use about 3/4 cup of sugar to 250g of roselle. Now, I am waiting for my next roselle harvest so that I can make this for my family again :)

Homemade Roselle Jam
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40-45 minutes
Makes 325-g jar

Ingredients
250g roselle calyx, washed
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup caster sugar

1. Peel the roselle calyx from its seed pod. Place in a blender/food processor with 1/2 cup water and blend until you get a puree.

Roselle harvest from the garden

2. Pour the roselle puree into a stainless steel pot and bring to the boil over medium high heat. Once boiling,
low to medium low heat and add the sugar. Stir occasionally, making sure that the sugar has completely dissolved. Cook for about 30-35 minutes until jam has thickened. It will look jelly-like. To test if jam has set, please use one of the above methods (see above 2nd pic).

Draw a line once the mixture looks "jelly-like" and if the line stays for more than a few seconds, your jam is ready.

3. Remove from heat, and pour into dry clean jars. Seal immediately. Once cooled, store in the fridge. The jam will thicken further once cooled completely. This jam will keep for at least 3 weeks.

Note: If using unblended roselle calyx, simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes before adding sugar.