Fig Jam

Having a sweet tooth simply means, it is a daily struggle to keep your hands mouth away from anything and everything that has sugar = these days anything that is processed. Even products that are sold as savory or healthy options have sugar in them. Think Fat Free means Sugar Full :) Store bought jams and jellies for morning breakfast means you are consuming 4-5 tsp of sugar right in the morning. Fruits are good but store bought jams and jellies, I am not so sure. I'd rather save the sugar for savoring some dessert later in the day. Homemade jams/jellies gives you the option to control the sugar and what else goes into it.

Should I grow Fig Trees?
Having fruit trees at home gives you the option to have fresh fruit right away :) If you live in a tropical, semi tropical or an area where you do not get sub zero temperatures, there is no excuse not to grow them. They are no fuss and do very well with fairly minimal maintenance. We get freezing temperatures in the winter, early morning frost and copious amounts of snow some years but even in these conditions figs do very well for instance near a south facing wall. The wall gives protection and some warmth. In much colder places they can be grown in containers which can be brought indoors during the cold months. Your local extension might have advice on how and where to grow and what varieites. Here is a link to what grows best in for us in Maryland.

End of August is when we start harvesting figs. This year the first fall frost was 2 weeks late so we enjoyed figs for a bit longer. If you are hard pressed for time to do anything with them, you can always eat them fresh and freeze the excess for use in smoothies. With the season extended I got some time to savor the figs and make some jams. Just 3 ingredients and I have resorted to cooking jams/jellies in an Instant Pot and that makes it even more easier to do.

it is just as easy on the stove top and should take the same amount of time or lesser. I use an Instant Pot because the saute mode provides constant heat and there is no danger of burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan. I have added far less sugar than the usual jelly recipes call for. Usually the ratio of fruit to sugar 2:1. That is a lot of sugar for a fruit like fig which is itself extremely sweet when ripe. All I needed was 1/4 cup of sugar for 2 cups of figs. So adjust for your needs accordingly.

Get the ingredient for the fig jam ready. Chop the figs.
Transfer the figs, sugar and lime juice and gently mash.
Cook the figs mixture till the liquid evaporates and the jam coats the back of the spoon.
Transfer to sterlized containers.

Fig Jam
Preparation Time:5 minutes
Cooking Time:15-20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of figs (about 15-20)
2. 1/4 cup of raw sugar
3. 2 tbsp of lemon/lime juice

Method

1. Wash and pat dry the figs, remove the top step and cut the fig into smaller pieces.
2. Transfer the cut figs into a saute pan if cooking on stove top or instant pot, mix in the sugar and lemon juice into the cut figs and gently mash with a potato masher.
3. Place the saute pan on the stove or if using Instant Pot set it to cook in saute mode.
4. Stir continuously till the liquid almost evaporates and the jam coats the back of the spoon. Do a water test, take a small plate with some water in it. Add a small bit of the jam on to the water and if it does not dissolve the jam is ready.
5. Transfer to a sterilzed glass jar once the jam is coolerd down to room temperature.

Jam is ready for toasts or to sppon over ice cream and enjoyed. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!