City Girls Jam!
I’ve never seen anyone make jam, ever. Canning to me sounds like a game you play in elementary school. When I joined the All You Grocery Challenge last year, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try things I had never tried before. So I taught myself to make jam!
It’s the beginning of delicious, abundant summer produce! Living in Boston, I’ve learned to enjoy in-season fruit. It’s cheaper and juicier than any other time of the year.
Unfortunately for us New Englanders, summer lasts, oh, 3 weeks! Not enough time to enjoy all that juicy goodness.
Cinco de Mayo Sales
This week was Cinco de Mayo. Lots of big sales on all Mexican food, including mangoes, limes, tomatoes and onions! I found cheap mangoes and cheap limes; so I thought why not make a jam-marmalade concoction!
Let The Jams Begin
For 6-7 8 oz. canning jars, I chopped up 4 lbs. of slightly under ripe mangoes. For the tangy taste and as a natural pectin (stuff that makes the jam set) I peeled and thinly sliced the rind of 4 limes. No need to buy pectin! Limes are high in natural pectin and will help the jam to set.
Take half of the lime rinds and place in a cheesecloth or piece of muslin cloth. This will go in with the chopped mangoes. If you decide to puree the mangoes after cooking, it’s easier to take out the rinds and keep them in whole pieces. They look so pretty floating in the jam!
Add mangoes, lime rinds (all of them) and about 1 cup of water. Squeeze the juice of four limes right into the pot. Mangoes release a lot of juice in cooking. Cook on medium heat about 20 minutes. Mangoes should be mushy and easy to puree or leave as is for whole pieces!
All good jam needs some sugar. Add four cups of sugar. Bring to a hard boil for 10-15 minutes depending on how strong your burners are. Watch closely and stir gently. You should start to see the puree thicken.
The push test!
- Keep a plate in the freezer.
- Take the plate out of the freezer, spoon a small amount on the plate and pop it back in the freezer for about a minute.
- Take it out and put your finger in it and check to see if a skin has formed on top, if yes…you’re done! And yes, it is finger lickin’ good!
Ingredients
- 4 lbs. Under ripe Mangoes
- 4 Limes
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Peel mangoes and give it a rough chop. Peel and thinly slice the rind of the limes. Cut in half to juice.
- Place half the rinds covered in cheesecloth and put it in the pot. Place all rinds in the pot. Squeeze the limes into the pot.
- Add everything, except sugar. Place on medium heat for 20 minutes until mangoes are very soft and almost a puree. You can use an immersion blender at this point to puree or leave as is with whole pieces.
- Add sugar one cup at a time and bring to a hard boil for 10-15 minutes.
- Spoon a small amount onto a cold plate and touch if skin has formed, if yes, you're done!
I highly recommend the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I’m just a frugal foodie!
Craft Like Martha Stewart For $1
Hi! I'm Isra, aka The Frugalette. I took my family from fancy to frugal in 3 years, with 3 kids and 1 income, oh and found the meaning of life too! To read more about my fancy life gone frugal, 
yum! Mango is my FAVORITE!
Mine too!
That looks delicious! Thanks for the great post!
Yum- this looks fantastic!
I waant …
Just make…
Looks delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
That looks neat! Thanks!
That looks so yummy!
I have never canned before…but my mother in law does and has been wanting to teach me! I may just learn since I can make some yummy jam!
If I had someone to teach me along the way I would jump at the chance! Go for it!
This sounds so good, and I had no idea about not using pectin but using limes instead!
Katja, I was skeptical too! I even bought pectin just in case, but I didn't need it at all, the limes where enough.