Recipe: greengage jam

Greengages are a variety of plum, small, sweet and - er - green!  They make wonderful jam.

Ingredients:
Greengage plums
Sugar
Water
Maybe a splash of lemon juice

Method
Put two saucers in the fridge for testing for setting point.  Place clean jam jars on an oven tray and pot into a just turned on oven, lowest heat.

Wash the gages.  Prepare them by removing the stone and cutting off any bad bits.  Pop them in a pan with a splash of water and simmer them gently until they are soft and have released their juices.

Remove from the heat and measure in a jug.  For every pint of fruit, add 1 lb jam - so one and a half pints of fruit will need one and a half pounds of sugar.  I had a bit of jam sugar left over so used that and topped up with ordinary sugar.  Add the lemon juice if using

Mix it all in a bowl, stir well and leave.  The hot fruit will help the sugar to dissolve completely.  I am convinced that it also helps the set.  No idea why but when I do that it takes just minutes of cooking to reach setting point.

When the sugar is completely dissolved, pour the jam mixture into a maslin (or other kind of) pan and bring to a steady boil.  Stir to prevent burning/sticking.  After a few minutes, remove from the heat and test for set.  If it has not reached setting point, boil for a little while longer and try again.

When setting point is reached, remove the pan from the heat and skim off any scum (I didn't have any scum at all).  Pour the jam into the hot jars, seal and label.

How to test for setting point?  This explains it well.  I use the wrinkle test.