Jono acquired five trays of figs from one of his customers, much to the approbation of Jules who said he had to find something to do with them! This fig jam used most of them and there was a smaller batch of rather good chutney. A good call too, as we’ve had repeat requests for jam from friends who’ve been given a jar. It is easily scalable, so while the recipe is for 1kg of figs, we used 4kg to make just over 5kg of jam.
Jono now believes he is allowed to get loads of figs when there is a glut again next year.
Fig Jam – makes roughly 1.3kg of jam
- 1kg figs, remove the stalks at the top and roughly chop
- 2 fig leaves, cleaned (we took two from a neighbour’s garden – with permission)
- 500g jam sugar (with pectin)
Put the ingredients into a large saucepan and stir well to combine. Put the pan over a low heat and let the sugar dissolve, then increase the heat slightly and bring to a gentle simmer.
When the liquid starts to be released from the figs, turn the heat up a little again and stir often to stop the jam sticking to the bottom of the pan. Simmer rapidly until the jam reaches 105°C (You will need a jam thermometer to check this. If you don’t have one the other option is to put a few saucers in the freezer. To check if the jam is ready, put a tiny spoonful onto the cold plate and see if it runs. If it doesn’t, it’s ready. If it does try again using another cold plate in a few minutes).
Remove the fig leaves and pour the jam into sterilised jars. Cover immediately with the lids. The jam will now keep for up to a year, but it’s highly unlikely to last that long!
(Original recipe from Marcus Everyday by Marcus Wareing, HarperCollins Publishing, 2019.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 
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