How To Make Fig Jam… With a Bread Machine! |

I discovered recently that you can make jam in a bread machine. I found this to be pretty exciting since I have a bread machine, which, coincidentally sits unused a good part of the time since I have found I prefer to make my bread in the oven. There’s just one catch: your bread machine must have a jam setting. I have owned mine for about 7 years, and had never noticed that it does, in fact, have a jam setting! Since I can’t seem to find any store bought jam (even organic) that doesn’t contain sugar, I decided it was time to give making my own a try.

I set out to find some fruit to make my jam out of. I knew I wanted something pretty sweet since I wouldn’t be using sugar, but only a little honey. I decided to hit up my local farmer’s market, considering buying enough fresh, organic fruit at the grocery store to make a batch of jam would prove to be costly. I decided whatever fruit I could find at the farmer’s market would suffice and hoped there might still be some peaches around.

Instead, I found figs (un-sprayed!). My kids and I love figs, so this seemed like a pretty good plan. Plus, I asked for a deal since I was going to buy a bunch, and got her to give me 15 bags of them for $10, instead of the usual $1 a piece.

This will make one batch in a 2-quart bread machine.

Fig Jam

Ingredients:

6 cups finely chopped figs, stems removed
1 cup filtered water
1 cup honey
4 TBSP gelatin (I use Great Lakes)
1 lime
Containers for jam (canning jars, freezer jars, etc.)
Big spoon or ladle

Directions:

Rinse figs and cut off stems. Remove any moldy, excessively squishy spots, although some squish is fine.

Chop figs into small pieces:

You don’t have to peel them!

Add chopped figs, water, honey and gelatin into the container of your bread machine. Roll the lime around on the counter for a minute, then chop the end off. Use a knife to scoop the juice and pulp into the jam mixture. Briefly stir all of the ingredients to begin the mixing process.

Turn the bread machine to jam setting and walk away. 🙂

My bread machine takes about an hour to complete the jam cycle. It thoroughly mixes and cooks the jam (while I fold laundry… or nap!).

When the cycle is complete, let is cool for a few minutes.

Once the jam is cooled to a comfortable temperature, you simply scoop it into whatever jars you’d like. You can can it the traditional way, or you can put it in refrigerator or freezer safe containers to store for later.