It’s finally time to share this recipe with you. Not only is it the perfect festive side for both savoury and sweet (think pumpkin swirl ice cream) but it makes a delicious home made gift for the season.
I like this simply spiced with fresh bay leaves. The FRESH bit is important – no dusty dried ones here please. The fresh bay leaves bring a simple, bright yet delicately herby flavour to the jam. I am steering clear of the traditional pumpkin spice concoction, but as alternatives to bay, star anise, allspice or maple & ginger also work well and cinnamon is always a good fallback solution if nothing else is available.
This is a little more of a guide rather than a recipe as it depends on the size of the pumpkin or squash you use so I am giving you a ratio of pumpkin flesh to sugar so you can adjust according to what you have on hand.
Use a ratio of double the amount of peeled and seeded pumpkin flesh to sugar (ie. 500g pumpkin to 250g sugar). Just make sure you weigh your pumpkin and then double the amount of sugar. Weight here is much more accurate than cups (sorry Americans you need a scale).
A note on pumpkins. This is not a way to use up your old Halloween pumpkins (tempting, I know), you want a smaller variety. You can also use a blue hubbard or crown prince or delicata squash. They all work equally well.
Pumkin Jam
6-8
servings10
minutes30
minutesIngredients
500g peeled and deseeded pumpkin, cubed into equal pieces (about 5cm)
250g caster sugar
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tsp salt
Juice of half a lemon
Juice of half an orange
Directions
- Place the cubed pumpkin pieces in a saucepan, add the sugar, salt, bay leaves and cover with water, just enough to completely cover everything. Boil on a low/medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sugar is completely dissolved and bubbling, and the pumpkin is so soft you can easily squash it with the back of a wooden spoon and jewelled orange.
- Add the lemon and orange juice, stir everything together and cook for another minute or two before removing from the heat.
- Once cooled, place in a couple of clean jars with lids and use on everything (or give it away as a gift to be remembered forever).
Have you made this dish?
Let me know what you think, share your efforts and any tweaks you made to the recipe on Instagram, don’t forget to tag #BuildingFeasts or email me on info@buildingfeasts.com
