Hot Water Bath Need Not Apply

Every year at harvest time I always have these high hopes of turning the seasons bounty into something that can be put on a shelf and enjoyed when nothing local is to be found. In other words, canning peaches, making pickles or turning strawberries into jam. I get out my cookbooks, find some amazing recipes, and then get to the part about a water bath and a seal on the jar. Ahh, maybe next year I think to myself. The whole canning process just seems like such a hassle. And it is a hassle when your trying to get dinner on the table or give the kids a bath. Or when your so tired at the end of the day that all you want to do is veg out on the couch in front of Greys Anatomy with a nice hot cup of tea (or bowl of ice cream).
So even though I am not at the point in my life where I can devote hours to preserving the summers best, I can still make one heck of a raspberry jam, and here's how!

Raspberry Jam
adapted from Nigella Lawson

2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups granulated sugar


Preheat oven to 350 F.

Put the raspberries and the sugar into separate pie plates. Put the pie plates in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until they are both very hot. Carefully remove them from the oven and pour the hot sugar over the hot raspberries. Stir together with a wooden spoon, and as you do the sugar and the raspberries will become one. Pour this amazing jam into clean jars and let cool before storing in the fridge. Alternatively, after mixing the raspberries and sugar you can strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve if you want to remove the seeds.


Sooo good with popovers fresh from the oven. Look for this recipe in my next post!