Mango Jam
Well, my mom is at least 1300 miles away now so I can't just get jam from her whenever I want. In fact, those of my sibling who still live here in Texas make homemade jam with our kids for our own families. Strawberry jam is still as delicious as it always was but I've become a huge fan of pineapple mango jam which I made for the first time this summer. With mangoes running anywhere between .25 cents and .50 cents a piece, why WOULDN'T you make it?
In all honesty, I first made mangoes after a quick 24 hour trip to Florida. I would love to say I went to visit my cousin. But really, I went for the mangoes LOL! It was great catching up with this awesome cousin of mine, though and having a couple of my kids get to know him. He even took us to the Siesta beach. Anyway, back to the mangoes-- they were huge! We flew back to Texas with about SIX bins and coolers filled with mangoes and didn't pay a thing for them. NO JOKE! We went around the neighborhood and picked mangoes from people's trees. Some of them had fallen on the ground but were still good. Others, we had to use a very LOOONG mango picking pole attached to a basket to get them from way high up in the trees. Many residents were happy to share the fruit that was too abundant for their little families. If no one picked them, they would eventually fall to the ground and rot. It was actually really fun. Of course we didn't keep all six bins and coolers for ourselves. We shared them with friends and family members back here in Texas. I peeled and sliced up a bunch of mangoes and froze them for smoothies. The rest went to my first ever batches of mango jam. SO GOOD! They are really good in tarts too!
Needless to say, buying fruit in season for just a few cents on the dollar and making jam is a great way to stock up and enjoy those summer fruits through the rest of the year. You can also find a variation of this recipe and the TUTORIAL for PINEAPPLE MANGO JAM on my JOY in DIY youtube channel by clicking here.
So get your peelers ready mango lovers, we gon' get all up in it!
I almost started to make this particular batch myself but then I thought I would be doing my daughters a great disservice by not teaching them how to make this favorite generational treat themselves. Tava made strawberry jam and Lia made mango jam. Doesn't Lia look so thrilled?
She'll thank me one day.
Alright, grab your helper and follow me...
First you'll need a nice batch of ripe mangoes.
You're going to peel each mango and slice around the large seed as closely as possible to get as much of that mango meat as you possibly can.
For any that are a little too firm to cut, I suggest using a cheese grater and shredding the mango meat from around the seed. It gives you those nice fruit bits in your jam, adds a little tartness, and works well with the softer mango slices.
Next, you're going to turn those slices into crushed mango. You can use a fork, potato masher, or keep using a shredder. I like to put it all in the food processor and pulse a few times just for a second or two--I like mine chunky. If you like yours smoother, let it puree until it resembles apple sauce consistency.
About 6-8 mangoes should give you about 6 cups.
Set aside your crushed fruit and pull out a large pot. Look at that, my helper is SMILING now!
Ok, to our pot we're going to pour 2 1/2 cups of granulated sugar.
Then, we're going to add 1 box of sure-jell brand pectin. I get the light pink box of SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin which requires less sugar. Go ahead and pour that pectin package into the sugar.
In the box you'll have a long sheet of directions for all different kind of jams and jellies. Unfortunately, it doesn't have one for mango, pineapple or pineapple/mango. Which is the whole reason for this blog post!
Mix the sugar and pectin together with a whisk.
Next, you'll add 1 cup of water and turn your burner to medium high heat while stirring constantly.
Once it begins to boil, set the timer and let it boil 1 minute, then remove from heat.
After you've removed it from heat, use a strainer and squeeze 1/2 lemon into the syrup mixture.
Then pour in the crushed fruit and stir for another minute.
Be sure you have containers to pour your jam mixture into straight away.
I'm using glass BALL brand mason jars.
Clean your jars accordingly and remove all lids to eliminated wasted time between pours.
Now, pour jam into each jar leaving about 1 inch from the top for expansion during the setting and freezing process.
Once you're all done, wipe the jars clean of spilled or dripping jam, twist the lid back on and set it on the counter. It needs at least 24 hours to set before it can be given away, eaten or stored.
Be sure if you DO store it, to do so in a freezer.
You're good to go! You can tell all your friends and family members you made homemade mango jam and "CRUSHED IT"!
Mango Jam
Ingredients:
- 6-8 large mangoes
- 2 1/2 cups of sugar
- 1 box Sure-Jell fruit pectin
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 cup water
- *about 6 16oz mason jars or other food storage containers
Directions:
- Peel and slice around the large seed of each mango as closely as possible to get as much mango meat as you possible.
- Crush, pulse, or shred mango slices until you have approximately 4 cups of crushed fruit
- To a large pot add fruit pectin and sugar. Mix well.
- Add water to pot, again mixing well.
- Turn burner on to medium high heat and bring mixture to a boil stirring constantly.
- Allow to boil for 1 minute before removing from heat.
- Mix in juice from half a lemon.
- Immediately add crushed fruit and stir thoroughly.
- Ladle hot jam into jars or food storage containers slowly, leaving 1 inch of space between jam and top of container/jar.
- Seal jar or container with lid.
- Set jam on counter for 24 hours at room temperature.
- Once set, jam is good in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks OR store unused jam in freezer for up to 12 months.
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