Rosella Jam

Although the calyces are pretty tasty straight off the bush Rosella jam is the best jam ever. I harvest my rosellas over a number of weeks as they ripen. Each time I pick a batch, I separate the calyces from the central seed pod and store them separately in snap lock bags in the freezer. Once you have a good bagful of each, it’s time to make jam!

Ingredients:

Rosellas

Sugar

Lemon

Method:

Tip the seed pots into a pot and cover with water. Boil for 30 mins.

Strain, reserving the liquid. (Get rid of the pods.)

Add the calyces to the liquid and boil for another 20 minutes until pulpy. Then measure the amount of pulp you have (I use a giant measuring jug) and add the same volume of sugar and the juice of a lemon.

Bring to the boil again for 15-20 minutes and then start testing! I do this by popping a couple of saucers in the freezer while I’m cooking and then to test the jam, put a small dollop on a cold saucer. Give it a sec to cool down and see if it wrinkles gently when you push your finger through. If it does - it’s ready!)

Pour into previously washed and dried jars. Embrace the mess. (In theory I use a funnel and a soup ladle and it’s all neat and tidy. But in reality I always make a mess). Use a clean paper towel in a bit of water to clean the rim of the jars before you put the lid on to make sure you have a good seal.

Disclosure: The original recipe I used is here but there’s a few steps I leave out.