Strawberry and Plum Slice

I found a recipe in a new book published by Random House called 'Merle's Kitchen' by Merle Parrish. 

It was a Raspberry Slice, but I didn't have raspberry jam so I changed the recipe just a touch. Today I made Strawberry and Plum Slice. It turned out brilliant!!

Half of the slice is strawberry and the other half plum.

Here is the amended recipe that I used.

Strawberry & Plum Slice

Ingredients:

BASE:

90g butter

1/2 cup sugar (raw sugar can be used)

pinch of salt

1 egg

2/3 cup plain flour

1tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup of each jam. 

TOPPING:

2 eggs

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups desiccated coconut

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 160 degree celsius - line a tray with baking paper.

2) Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until fluffy then add your egg. Once mixed add your flours and when combined press evenly into the tin. Bake for 15 minutes.

3) Spread jam/s over the base. Combine the topping mixture and spread over the jam base. Bake for another 20 minutes or until golden. Make sure you cool the slice before you cut into squares.

Dark Grape Jam

Today I experimented with some dark grapes that I bought yesterday. I had seen recipes for grape jelly, but I wanted jam. So I hunted around and found a really good website called Apple & Spice. Here was a great recipe for grape jam. I changed it up a touch and it turned out fantastic!!

Here is my version of Apple & Spice's recipe.

Ingredients 
850g black grapes
1 lemon

1 Apple
1 tbsp water

650g caster sugar

Method
Cut the grapes in half and remove any seeds if necessary (every grape I had, had seeds) De-core and peel apple and finely chop into small pieces. *Save apple skin, core and lemon rind and put into freezer for another time. Place the grapes and apples into a large saucepan with the juice of the lemon and the tablespoon of water.
Heat the grapes gently with the lid on for 10 minutes until the juices have been released. Blend half the mixture to give jam a smoother appearence.

Take off the heat and then add the sugar. Stir until dissolved. Then replace the lid, leaving it slightly off to allow steam to escape.
Allow to simmer for 40-50 minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy.
Sterlise your jam jars.
Test the jam for setting by placing a small spoonful of the jam onto a saucer and place in the fridge for 5 minutes until cool. Then run a finger through the middle of jam and if it is ready it will ripple on either side. If it ripples, remove the jam from the heat, if its too runny, then continue heating for a further 10 minutes before repeating the test.

Take jam off the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes then ladle the jam into the jars. Be careful the jam will be extremely hot!
Leave the jars to cool before storing in a cool dark place. Refrigerate once opened.

This made for me 3 jars.

*Put rinds, cores and skins into a muslin bag and boil with low pectin fruit. This will give your jam an extra umph to set.

Introduction

Welcome to my page. This is where I will be showcasing all the homestyle things that I will be creating. I make jams, ice cream, breads, cakes and much more. Keep an eye for for recipes, pictures and great books I use in my quest for homestyle food. IF you like any of the food I will be making, feel free to drop me a comment!