Rhubarb Jam in your Bread Machine

One of my very favorite kitchen appliances is bread machine. I still like to make bread by hand but there is just something great about making it in a bread machine... its fix it and forget appeal. While there is nothing better to work off your aggression than kneading a bread dough for 10 minutes, on days when I'm busy running around doing 10,000 things at the same time, this "little-ish" box comes to my rescue. I haven't bought bread, except maybe the occasional crusty French baguette in good 5 years.

Among the features of almost all the new bread makers is the "Jam" option. While one batch doesn't make that many jars, it's perfect for beginner jam-makers as well as small families who just don't want to end up with shelves filled with one kind of jam. Last Sunday, I made two batches using about 2 pounds of rhubarb and ended up with 5 half-pint jars.

For the recipes I'm using my favorite bread machine cookbook, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. It has an awesome collection of jam, preserves and chutney recipes. So far, my shelves (or freezer) are lined with Kiwifruit Jam, Blueberry Jam, Cherry Jam and now Rhubarb Jam. A few jam recipes include a sort of a 'secret' ingredient that adds a little bit of an "om-ph" to the final product. In this case, it's dried apricots which wonderfully compliment the tartness of the rhubarb.

 

 

Rhubarb Jam

Source: The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger

 

1 lb rhubarb stalks, sliced about 1/2" thick (2 cups)

1 1/2 cups sugar

half of a 1.75- to 2-ounce box of powdered pectin fruit

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

 

Mix the rhubarb with the sugar in a glass bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.

Combine the rhubarb-sugar mixture, the pectin and dried apricots in the bread pan.

Program the machine for the Jam cycle and press Start. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, carefully remove the pan with oven mitts. You can scrape the jam into heat-resistant jars right away, using rubber spatula. For other jars, let the jam stand in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring. Let stand until cool. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freeze or can.

Comments

[Lindsay]

OMG! It's all so yummy!! So I totally know that this is your food blog, but I went ahead and tagged you in my blog today! http://lifewithbigdogs.blogspot.com/2009/08/lazy-saturdayand-weve-been-tagged.html

[Kami Jensen]

Yum! I love anything with rhubarb.

[Gina]

Oh that's so fun to make your own jam! Way to go!