Physalis jam with orange

The most delicious recipe for physalis jam with orange includes not only the correctly calculated composition of the products. A few processing and cooking secrets will help you create a real culinary masterpiece from an unusual vegetable. The addition of simple, well-chosen spices will give the jam an exquisite taste and amber color.

The secret of making vegetable physalis jam with orange

Physalis is not the most common garden crop in latitudes. But everyone who is familiar with this vegetable notes its versatility, ease of processing and unusual pulp consistency.

Green or yellowish physalis berries, similar to small tomatoes, do not have their own bright taste and aroma. Recipes for the best jams always include additional ingredients: oranges, lemons, plums, aromatic herbs and spices.

In order not to spoil the taste of jam, it is enough to know a few features:

1. Jam should be prepared on the day of picking berries. With long-term storage, they acquire a specific taste, inappropriate in desserts.
2. The crop is harvested in dry weather, immediately cleaned of the integumentary pods, which give bitterness to the fruits.
3. The peel of freshly picked berries is covered with a wax coating that affects the smell and taste during heat treatment. Therefore, physalis should be blanched for about 2 minutes, then wiped thoroughly with a clean cloth.
4. The peel of the fruit is much denser than that of the usual fruits used for jam. Prepared physalis should be pierced with a needle or toothpick several times to evenly soak with syrup. On small specimens, one puncture is made at the stem.

Large fruits are divided in half or cut into pieces before cooking. Desserts made from whole, small berries are especially appreciated.

How to choose the right Physalis

Only fully ripened physalis is suitable for jam. Unripe fruits have the taste of green tomatoes and are used in marinades, pickles, salads. The best time to make jam is September.

Today there are about 10 varieties of physalis. Not all of them are suitable for cooking. In jam recipes, strawberry varieties are most often indicated. Its fruits are small, yellowish in color. In addition to jam, the strawberry variety is suitable for drying, making marmalade, jam, marshmallow.

The vegetable variety has larger fruits, comparable to cherry tomatoes. Skin color is light green. The use of the variety is universal, it is equally good with sugar and in salted preparations. For jam, vegetable physalis often has to be cut into pieces.

The main difference between food and ornamental varieties is the ratio of the size of the fruit and box. Poisonous berries are small, brightly colored. The box is large and half empty. Food varieties of Physalis are distinguished by large fruits of pale shades with a small bowl of dry integumentary petals that tend to crack.

Ingredients

The classic version of the physalis orange jam recipe includes the following ingredients in equal parts (1:1:1):

1. Vegetable physalis.
2. Granulated sugar.
3. Oranges.

Spices are added to the recipe to taste. Most often, cinnamon is chosen for such jam, getting a harmonious smell and slightly thickening color. But for the recipe with an orange, other seasoning options are also possible: mint, vanilla, a few bunches of cloves, a couple of cardamom grains, ginger.

During the first preparation according to the recipe, it is recommended to add quite a bit of spices to the physalis with orange.

The presence of citrus fruits determines the balance of sweetness and acidity, as well as the consistency of the finished jam. The number of oranges in the recipe can be arbitrarily changed. Therefore, you should focus on your taste.

There are several ways to prepare oranges for jam:

• peel citrus fruits, disassemble into slices, cut into small pieces;
• without removing the skin, scald the oranges with boiling water and cut together with the zest;
• the best balance of taste is obtained by cleaning the entire number of citrus fruits, with the exception of one fruit;
• the bones should be removed for any kind of preparation, otherwise the physalis jam will become bitter when infused.

Sometimes a lemon is introduced into the recipe for physalis jam with orange. This increases the amount of fruit acids, makes the taste more intense and enhances the aroma. For such an additive, you should simply replace one orange in the recipe with a lemon.

Step-by-step recipe for physalis jam with orange

When the ingredients are washed and dried, you can start cooking. The recipe involves a long infusion of physalis, so it is convenient to start cooking in the evening. For the same reason, oranges should not be cut in advance.

The process of making physalis jam with the addition of orange:

1. All prepared physalis is placed in a cooking basin (enamelled or stainless) and covered with sugar.
2. In this form, the fruits are left for a period of 4 to 8 hours. If the physalis is cut into slices, the juice is released faster. If the berries are whole, leave overnight.
3. The settled mass is put on a minimum fire, allowing the remaining grains of sugar to melt. In the case of whole fruits, it is permissible to add 50 g of water to form a syrup.
4. Bringing the mixture to a boil, heat it for no longer than 10 minutes, add orange slices and pour in all the juice formed during cutting.
5. Boil the orange and physalis together for about 5 minutes and remove the container from the heat until it cools completely. The jam is insisted until the fruit is completely soaked – the physalis berries should become transparent.
6. Repeat heating, add spices and boil the jam over very low heat for another 5 minutes.

The jam is ready for hot packaging. It can be placed in small sterile jars and sealed.

Seasonings that have a large shape (cinnamon sticks, bunches of cloves, sprigs of mint) are added at the very beginning and removed before canning.

Terms and conditions of storage

The duration of storage of physalis jam with orange depends on several factors, one of which is temperature. In the basement, cellar or refrigerator, the dessert will stand until the next harvest. At room temperature or in the pantry, seamings have a shelf life of several months.

Factors that increase the shelf life of physalis and orange jam:

• periodic removal of foam during cooking;
• observance of sterility during packaging, the use of metal caps;
• adding natural preservatives to the jam: spices, lemon juice or acid;
• if it is impossible to store in a cool place, the workpiece is boiled for an additional 15 minutes.

After packaging, hot blanks are wrapped warmly to prolong sterilization.

Conclusion

Each culinary specialist creates the most delicious recipe for physalis jam with orange over time, based on a proven ratio of products and the classic cooking method. The addition of lemon, spices and herbs add a variety of flavors to an exquisite dessert. A change in the orange bookmark recipe allows you to adjust the sweetness and consistency of the finished jam.