Gram's Heavenly Jam

Source & History

This is a jam recipe that Doug got from Mum. He says that it's name is appropriate. He is also the one who reduced the quantities to a more manageable level. The original recipe called for 4 oranges, 2 lemons, a dozen each of pears, peaches and apples. The quantity it made must have been huge! I am giving you the reduced version here.

Note

• The fruit mixture made 8 cups and, as the requirement is to add 3/4 that amount in sugar, 6 cups of sugar were used.
• Doug used MacIntosh apples which we can't get in Australia so I am suggesting that the best alternative would be Pink Lady or Grannie Smith apples.
• This made seven 250ml jars of jam. 
• If you're not sure how to sterilise jars, try this link Sterilising Jars (The Easy Way)

Update

I tried making the jam and the attempt was pretty successful. Just a few more notes for clarification:

• No you don't peel the oranges & lemon.
• I used Pink Lady apples and I think next time I will use Grannie Smiths - I would like the extra tartness from the Grannie Smith apple.
• I measured how much fruit mixture I had before adding the sugar and then used the calculation (no. of cups of fruit x .75) to work out how much sugar to add.
• The sterilising technique worked well, just be careful not to put the oven up higher than it says in the instructions - I did that and 4 of the 5 jars I had in the oven broke
• I think I could have boiled it a little longer than I did because the first attempt didn't set. However, I bought some Jamsetta (pectin) from the supermarket and reboiled the jam following the instructions on the packet and that did the trick.
• I gave a jar of this to a friend of mine and she used the jam as a topping for vanilla ice cream. She claimed that was what its real purpose was.