Quince Jam

Not all berries are suitable for this type of jam. You need to choose only whole and firm berries. Since the medlar is cooked in sugar syrup, soft and mashed berries will completely dissolve, and the jam will contain bare pits and cloudy syrup due to the dissolved flesh and bits of skin.

Remove any stems, leaves, and stems from the medlar. Discard overripe fruits. If gently pressing a soft berry causes its flesh to easily flow out, it is not suitable for making jam. However, it's perfect for freezing as a puree.

Place the resilient fruit in a colander (sieve) and rinse thoroughly several times under running water.

The washed sea buckthorn must be punctured in several places. I do this with a toothpick, but you can use a needle or pin. Puncture the skin of the berries in 2-3 places with a sharp tip. If this is not done, the skin on the sea buckthorn will crack when it comes into contact with hot sugar syrup, and the jam will not be as beautiful. Yes, it will not affect the taste, but if you are making sea buckthorn jam, the beauty of the berries in the sugar syrup should bring no less enjoyment than the taste.

Now let's prepare the sugar syrup. I want to note that you should not be afraid of the large amount of sugar in the composition. Sea buckthorn has a sweet and sour taste, and it is even more sour than sweet. Therefore, the sugar here only enhances the taste of the berries. Moreover, this method of preparation (boiling in sugar syrup in three steps) prevents the destruction of the integrity of the berries. A few words about the dishes in which you can cook jam. Give preference to an aluminum or copper basin, or a large pot with a double bottom. Then pour the sugar into the pot and pour a glass of drinking water. Turn on the lowest heat and stir the contents of the pot with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. The sugar should dissolve in the water.

When bubbles appear on the sugar syrup, set a timer for 5 minutes (during this time, the necessary amount of water will evaporate from the syrup). Turn off the heat and cool the sweet mass to 80 degrees. I do not recommend immediately immersing the sea buckthorn berries in boiling syrup, even if they are punctured, they will crack immediately. If you don't have a culinary thermometer at home, then wait for 10-12 minutes, the temperature of the syrup will decrease.

Then lower the berries into the sugar syrup and gently shake the pot to ensure that all the berries are covered with the sweet liquid. That's all. Now you can forget about the berries for at least six to eight hours, leaving them in the pot at room temperature. After the allotted time, drain the syrup into a separate pot, bring to a boil, and pour the sea buckthorn berries with boiling sweet mass. Leave the sea buckthorn for another six to eight hours.

In a third round, bring the jam to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, constantly removing the foam that forms.

Afterwards, transfer the jam into sterilized jars. I recommend using jars with airtight lids. Flip the sealed jars upside down and leave them in this position until completely cooled. Then, move the jars with the jam to a cool place for storage. To remember the year of making this jam, label the jar of sea buckthorn jam with a beautiful label. Tip: I recommend starting to cook sea buckthorn jam at 8-9am. Boil the jam for the second time at 3-4pm. At 10pm, bring the jam to a boil for the third time and complete the cooking process. Let the jars of jam cool overnight and then you can place them in the desired storage location.

This sea buckthorn jam has a thin syrup consistency, making it perfect for drizzling over ice cream, cottage cheese desserts, or soaking sponge cakes. And of course, the sea buckthorn berries themselves are delicious to eat with a spoon, along with tea or coffee.