Thursday, August 25, 2011

Carrot Jam Recipe

Carrot jam
I had plenty of carrots in the refrigerator and I thought why not make carrot jam. I had never heard of carrot jam but why not, you have jam made from pretty much any fruit, some vegetables and even meat like bacon. An internet search revealed that carrot jam does exist. 

I noticed that there are two methods for making carrot jam. The first method is much simpler, carrots and sugar are cooked together until the jam is set. The second method requires the carrots to be first cooked in water until soft, passed through a sieve and cooked with sugar. 

I started making jam using the first easier method but it wasn’t a success. Instead of jam I ended up with ‘carrot candy’ – bits of dried carrot coated with candy. It was really delicious to eat, though it was not what I was looking for. I don’t know what I did wrong. Perhaps I chopped the carrots too finely and cooked them in syrup for too long and they dried out. I tried to rescue the failed carrot jam by separately boiling and pureeing carrots, adding to the ‘carrot candy’ and cookiing for about 5 minutes. This worked perfectly. In case you end up with carrot candy instead of carrot jam, now you know what to do.

I have presented below two versions of the recipe. I have not tried each one separately so I cannot comment on how good they are but they do come from reputable sources. If you are going to attempt the first easier method, puree the carrots as soon as they turn soft. If you don’t the carrots may turn hard and not combine well with the syrup.

Recipe 1 (Source: World Carrot Museum)
Ingredients
4 cups chopped carrots (chop them nice and small)
3 cups sugar (I used less sugar)
Three sliced lemons
One teaspoon cinnamon
A half teaspoon cloves

Directions
1. Add all the ingredients into a saucepan, and simmer slowly at a gentle heat. Stir constantly, especially at the earlier stages of the cooking.
2. After about 20 minutes the carrots will begin to soften, and the jam will become thick. At this point you can blend the mixture if you prefer a smooth jam
3. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until the jam has set

Recipe 2 ( Source: BBC Food Recipes)
Ingredients
450g/1lb carrot pulp
450g/1lb sugar
1 lemon, the grated rind of
2 lemons, the strained juice of
6 chopped bitter almonds
2 tbsp brandy

Directions
1. Cut carrots into round pieces, put them into a saucepan with sufficient water to cover them, and let them simmer until perfectly soft
2. Pass the carrot through sieve
3. Weigh the pulp, and to every 450g/1lb, allow the above ingredients
4. Put the pulp into a preserving-pan with the sugar, and let this boil for 5 minutes, stirring and skimming all the time.
5. When cold, add the lemon-rind and juice, almonds and brandy; mix these well with the jam; then put it into pots which must be well covered and kept in a dry place. The brandy may be omitted, but the preserve will then not keep; with the brandy it will keep for months
Carrot Jam

11 comments:

  1. That is a pretty cool idea. Carrot candy actually sounds pretty good too :-)

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  2. If given a choice, I'd go for the carrot candy. This looks pretty good too actually but I'm just trying to imagine the taste .... I still prefer carrots raw or in a stew. Not even into carrot cake.

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  3. Carrot jam... interesting :) we have a dessert in India called 'carrot halwa' where grated carrot is cooked with sugar, milk, cardamom and clarified butter... it is very popular! This jam sounds nice and so does the candy! :)

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  4. Cher: I think I will post the recipe for carrot candy sometime, if I can successfully recreate it!

    ping: the jam does not taste of carrots. I guess you don't taste much raw carrot in cakes either, and you don't like carrot cake. So probably you may not like jam, but there's only one way to find out:)

    The Harried Cook: I've heard about carrot halva, would love to try it. Will definitely try making it soon. Sounds sort of similar to jam but with added ghee and milk.

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  5. This is a new one for me. I am glad you were able to save what might have been a failure, though carrot candy sounds pretty delicious.

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  6. I just bookmarked this...I have to give it a try! It looks like a marmalade. And sounds so delicious!

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  7. Sounds really interesting and something I may have seen in a Persian restaurant fro brunch. Persian cuisine has some really nice and exotic jams.

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  8. carrot jam with lemon and cinnamon, sure sounds good to try out ..looks very delicious too

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  9. A very interesting jam! It must taste gorgeous.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  10. i juiced carrots atleast 3 kilos every week and now i can use of the pulp instead of throwing down to garbage bin

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