I know I’ll probably say this about a lot of the things I’m going to bake this season, but I’m going to say it anyways: these are one of my favourite Holiday treats. I could eat a whole batch. But I don’t. It’s all I can do to hold myself back from doing so though. They should be your favourite too: they freeze well, travel well, and look cute — perfect for that tin of cookies/treats you bring to that next get-together, no?

(I do, however, have a confession to make about them: I’m never quite sure what to call them. I’ve settled on ‘turnovers’ but they could just as easily be called ‘mini-handpies’ or even ‘empanadas’. I’m going to remind myself not to sweat it.)

The pastry is *very* forgiving and has always turned out flaky for me. (score!) You can make it a day or two ahead and keep it in the fridge, or go crazy way beforehand, and stick it in your freezer to have ready for when you need it. Another point to cheer about this pastry, is that you can make it by hand or in a food processor. I’ve done it both ways, and it’s worked great both ways for me.

Another bonus: if you’re not into mincemeat, use something else that you do like — just make sure that it has a similar texture (chunky and thick not sloppy). I’ve tried making turnovers like these with jams, and they tend to split open and ooze. A chutney would probably work great.

Afterwards, if you have mincemeat left over at the end, and want to try making something else, try making a batch of Mincemeat Muffins (another favourite!)

The Recipe:

Makes about 30 turnovers (if you plan on making more, do so in separate batches — this recipe does not double well)
Pastry from Fanny Farmer

2 cups / 500mL flour
1/2 tsp / 2mL salt
3 tbsp / 45mL sugar
3/4 cup / 185mL cold butter
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp / 60 mL water

1/2 cup / 125mL mincemeat

milk for brushing
sugar for sprinkling

How-To:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees (F) / 215 degrees (C)

Make pastry by either

• sifting flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Cut in cold butter, and pulse until butter pieces are the size of peas. With the machine on, drop egg and water through chute. Continue to mix until dough comes together in a ball — this will take approximately 20 – 40 seconds.
  OR
• sift flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender or two knives, or with cold fingers — work until butter about the size of peas. Mix the egg yolk and water together, then stir into the flour mixture — a wooden or other large spoon works great for this. Continue until it comes together in a ball.

Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and chill for 20 or more minutes.

When ready to use, divide pastry into 2 or 3 sections. Start with one, and refrigerate the portions not in use. Roll pastry very thin — approximately 1/8 inch / 2mm thick. (Thinner dough bakes better in this shape.) Dip a glass or round cookie cutter that is about 3 1/4 inches / 8mm in diameter into flour, then cut out circles from the dough, re-dipping the glass or cutter in flour after each circle.

Place each circle of dough on your cookie sheet. On each circle, place 1/2 tsp / 2mL of mincemeat — I used regular cutlery teaspoons for this and only used half a spoonful for each circle of dough (it might be more than a strict 1/2 tsp /2mL.) Fold the circle in half and seal the edges first with your fingers, then with a fork. Brush each with milk and sprinkle with sugar (you could substitute an egg wash in this step if you wanted.)

Use a knife to vent the top of each turnover — stars are traditional for mincemeat, but feel free to get creative! Bake for 10 minutes — crusts should be golden around the edges. Remove to cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Notes:

• pastry works best when butter is very cold, especially when using a food processor.

It seems like everyone on the interwebs is falling in love with spiced chocolate right now, and they should — it’s very tasty stuff.

These are a traditional drop-cookie with an untraditional flavour. They are spicy enough that you know you’re not eating a plain ‘ol chocolate cookie, but not so strong that your mouth is on fire — a perfect balance, if I do say so myself.

Another great thing about these cookies: this recipe can easily be halved if you don’t trust yourself around 5 dozen delicious nuggets of spicy chocolatey goodness. *And* they go perfect with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.

The Recipe

Adapted from MJM Knitting
Makes approximately 5 dozen

3/4 cup / 185mL butter
2 cups / 500mL brown sugar
2 egg whites
2 tsp / 10mL vanilla extract
2 cups / 500mL flour
1 cup / 250mL cocoa powder (dutch-processed recommended)
1/2 tsp / 2mL baking soda
1/2 tsp / 2mL salt
1 tsp / 5mL cinnamon
1/2 tsp / 2mL ground black pepper
1 tsp / 5mL cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cup / 375mL chocolate chunks or chips

How-To:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (F) / 165 degrees (C)

Cream the butter until smooth, then add the sugar and continue mixing until fluffy. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla. Measure out the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and spices) and mix into the wet until nearly combined. Add in the chocolate chunks or chips and continue to mix. The dough is ready when it’s evenly moistened with no dry powder left.

Scoop by the tablespoonful onto cookie sheets and bake for 11-13 minutes or until they appear dry on the outside. Remove to racks to cool.

Enjoy!

I admit that I *love* slice & bake – style cookies. *Love*. You can make the dough, and leave it in the freezer and when you need cookies, just pull out the roll and slice off what you need. Whad’ya know — you’ve got fresh-baked cookies in minutes. This is especially perfect for making now to have on-hand for the upcoming holidays.

When I first spotted this recipe, I was a little intrigued — rosemary in a cookie? I was quickly won over. These cookies are sweet but with a hint (just a hint) of rosemary and lots of butter flavour — very nice, if I do say so myself.

Normally I make these with regular unsalted butter, but this time I tried using some whey butter we had on hand. It’s a great tweak to these yummy cookies. Whey butter isn’t always easy to find, so even if you don’t use it, make sure you do use a good quality butter (ie. one with good flavour). Why? Depending on the butter you choose to use, the flavour can be strong in this cookie, so if you use one of a lesser quality, either you won’t taste it, or what you do taste won’t be good. Trust me — it’s worth it!

The Recipe

From Martha Stewart
Makes approximately 5 dozen

1 cup / 250mL butter (use ‘whey butter’ if available)
3/4 cup / 185mL sugar
1 egg
1 tsp / 5mL vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups / 375mL flour
1 tbsp / 15mL chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 tsp / 4mL coarse salt

1 egg white
1/2 cup / 125mL sugar

How-To

Cream the butter until smooth, then add the sugar and continue mixing until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Measure the flour, rosemary and salt and mix until well combined.

Halve dough, and roll into a log shape, approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in parchment or wax paper and place in freezer for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F) / 190 degrees (C)

Brush frozen log with a thin coat of egg white and roll in sugar. Slice log into coins 1/4 inch thick and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.Bake for 13-15 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove to wire racks and allow to cool.

Enjoy!

Tip

• Dough logs can be placed inside paper towel rolls to help make or maintain the log shape — place one end of log at top of a vertically held roll and tap until the log is fully inside the roll.

Perfect Pairings

• Chamomile tea

This weekend I went to the market and innocently bought the larger size of peach basket thinking “Hey! We can totally use that up! No problem! Easy peasy!” Yeah, I’m so naive sometimes.

By the time I was walking away from the stall, I already knew I’d have to get creative to make sure that none go to waste. But, I like a challenge, and these peaches are pretty tasty, so I thought I’d use some up by making a pie. I’ve made pastry before, and I’ve made tarts, but I’ve never made a pie, so this was going to be something new — not necessarily impossible, but new. No worries though, ’cause I knew Fanny Farmer had my back.

I’ve also had an awful lot of candied ginger on hand for a while, and since peaches an ginger are pretty tasty together, I thought I’d adapt the recipe for ‘Fresh Peach Pie’ and make it my own.

Oh. My. God. It smelled so good coming out of the oven that the BF & I couldn’t wait to try it. Little did I know that pies don’t set until they are cooled, and cutting into it too soon meant the filling pooled in the pan. That’s why the photo above has flat pastry and fruit all over the plate.

Please don’t base your decision to try this pie on my badly styled photo — make this pie ’cause it’s totally worth it :-)

The Recipe:

Makes one 9-inch pie

Pastry
2 1/2 cup / 350g / 625mL flour
1/2 tsp / 2mL salt
3/4 cup / 185mL butter
6-7 tbsp / 90-105mL cold water

Filling
4 cups / 1L peeled & sliced fresh peaches (approximately 10)
1 tbsp / 15mL lemon juice1 cup / 200g / 250mL sugar
4 tbsp / 60mL flour
1/4 cup / 60mL chopped candied ginger
milk for brushing (optional)
sugar for sprinkling (optional)

vanilla ice cream for topping (optional)

How-To:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F) / 220 degrees (C)

Begin by making the pastry: mix the flour and salt together. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives. Continue to cut and mix until the butter is about the size of peas. (It will have an uneven texture, but go for averages.) Sprinkle the water onto the mixture one tablespoon at a time and mix in. Do not use all the water if you don’t have to — you only want to use enough for it to hold itself together when pressed into a ball.

Divide the dough in two, and chill one half. With the other half, roll out flat enough to fit a 9 inch pie pan with a little folding over the edges. Place in the fridge if hot in your work area.

Make the filling: Mix the peaches and lemon juice together. Cover with the sugar, flour and candied ginger, and stir to combine.

Pour the peach filling into the pie crust. Roll out the other half of the pie dough flat enough to cover the pie. Place on top of the filling. Crimp the edges with a fork or with your fingers and slice vents in the top to allow the steam to release when baking. Optional: brush with milk and sprinkle the top with sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees (F) / 220 degrees (C) for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees (F) / 180 degrees (C) and continue to bake until golden brown on top — approximately 30 – 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

You know how Gollum is always talking about and scheming over his ‘precious’? Well that’s kinda how I feel about this nectar. I first made it last year and rationed it out over the winter so that we wouldn’t drink it all in a day (we certainly could have!) — it’s that good. This year, I’m making a lot more of it than I did last year so that I won’t have to hoard it too much for special occasions only. I’ve been watching like a hawk for the first apricots to make sure I don’t miss making this this year. Halleluia! it’s apricot season again!

When I was little, apricot nectar was *such* a treat. We didn’t get it very often because it was in a tetra pack and we usually got frozen juice, so when we did it was a *really* *big* *deal*. I remember it being sweet and apricoty and unlike any other juice. It was so good (this was 30 years ago when juices came in three flavours: orange, apple and grapefruit.)

I think that SunRype (that was the brand we got when I was little) stopped making it sometime in the nineties, but I think you can still find it made by other brands. In all honesty though, I hadn’t any of it in decades… until I found this recipe last year, and it did not disappoint.

To serve this, mix with water or sparkling water (Proseco might be nice too) at a ratio of 1:1. We’ve also served this as a palate cleanser in-between courses without diluting it at all.

The Recipe:

From The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves by Linda Ziedric
Makes 4 pint jars

4 lbs ripe apricots, pitted
3 cups water
2/3 cup sugar (or more/less to taste)
6 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or more/less to taste)

How-To:

Put the pitted apricots and the water in a pot, and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until the apricots are very soft.

Pour into a blender or food processor and puree, then press the liquid through a sieve. When this is through, the texture will be thick — almost like a cream soup, but lump free.

Return to stove, and mix the apricot puree, sugar and lemon juice together. Bring again to a simmer.

Pour into sterilized jars, and process for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Not sure about the intricacies of canning? It’s not difficult even if you’re intimidated at first. Local Kitchen has a great post that lays out all the steps to do it right. (She’s a little more thorough than I am, but learning good habits is never a bad thing.)

I’ve made this cake a couple of times now, and each time I’ve been impressed. The biggest reasons being that it stays moist and fresh tasting for days and it tastes good. Surprisingly good — I mean, it doesn’t look like much, and reading the list of ingredients, it doesn’t sound so exciting. But the almond flavour is strong without being over powering, and the brown butter flavour adds a deep richness. Yum.

Not only does it taste good, it also goes so nicely with fresh fruit in the summer. I’ve also made it with the caramel and roasted pears that the original recipe recommends, and loved it with that too, which makes this a very versatile all-seasons cake.

Another reason why you should like this cake? It uses up 9 (!) egg whites — and as someone who always uses up way more yolks than whites, this is a very good thing.

Oh! and don’t let the multiple steps and seemingly convoluted process intimidate you — when you follow the instructions through, it’s actually a pretty easy cake to make.

The Recipe

Originally found in Fine Cooking magazine
Makes one 10-inch cake

1 cup / 250mL whole almonds
10 tbsp / 150mL unsalted butter
3/4 cup / 185mL sugar
1 cup / 250mL cake flour
2 tsp / 10mL baking powder
pinch salt
2 tbsp / 30mL dark rum
1 tsp / 5mL vanilla extract
1/4 cup / 60mL full-fat sour cream
9 egg whites
3/4 cup / 185mL sugar
1/4 cup / 60mL sliced almonds

How-To

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) / 180 degrees (C). Grease a 10 inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

Spread the whole almonds on a baking sheet and roast in oven until toasted, approximately 7-8 minutes. The almonds will be fragrant and not too brown. Shake the pan every couple of minutes to ensure you don’t over cook the nuts and that they toast evenly. Allow to cool.

In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook until you see brown flecks on the bottom — this will take 7-8 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and pour into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Scrape all the brown flecks from the saucepan and set aside to cool.

Pulse the whole almonds with the first amount of sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Pour into a second medium-sized mixing bowl and mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.

Add the rum, vanilla and sour cream into the butter and stir to combine well.

In a third bowl, that is very well cleaned of any oil or grease and is very dry, beat the egg whites. Begin with your mixer’s slowest speed, and slowly increase the speed after they start to foam, until you’ve reached medium-high speed. Once the egg whites barely hold a shape, slowly add the second amount of sugar. Continue beating at medium-high speed until the egg whites hold soft peaks.

Spoon a large dallop of the egg white mixture into the butter mixture and combine well.

Carefully fold half of the almond mixture into the rest of the egg whites, then fold in half of the butter mixture. Again, fold in the remaining almond mixture and finish by folding in the last of the butter mixture.

Pour the batter into the springform pan, make the top pretty and even, and decorate the top with the sliced almonds.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The cake will be risen and a deep golden colour. The top will spring back when pressed lightly.

Allow to cool until warm to touch (20-30 minutes), then run a knife around the outside of the pan. Remove the outside ring of the pan, then flip the cake onto a rack. Remove the bottom of the pan and the parchment paper, then gently flip to right-side-up onto your serving pate.

Shown above with fresh cherries and dusted with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

In the past I haven’t been too keen on Raspberry Jam — mostly because of all the seeds. (Ironically, I come from a family where everyone has a raspberry patch in their back yard.) I’ve avoided the berries since moving far away from all the raspberry patches (“Why do people pay so much for something that comes from the backyard?”) and I didn’t think I was missing them much.

Over this past winter, though, I kept spotting recipes that called for raspberry jam. I knew I had to make some, not to eat, but so I’d have it ready for all those recipes! (“Why buy jam when you can make it yourself?”)

My not liking raspberry jam might have changed now, because without the seeds, I actually like this stuff! It’s tangy and just a little bit sweet and full of raspberry flavour and is *seed**free*. I’m now looking forward to the holidays not just because there will no longer be any Humidex warnings, but because I’ll be able to use this jam!

I based this recipe on my grandmother’s ratio for regular raspberry jam: 1 cup of fruit to 1 cup of sugar. Because I planned on removing the seeds, I tweeked the ratio to 5:4, but if you like it a bit sweeter, do the 1:1 ratio. I’ve seen some recipes that add in a bit of lemon juice (either for extra tang and/or to help set it) but I didn’t find that it was necessary.

The Recipe

Makes four 1 cup / 250mL jars

5 cups / 1250mL (aproximately 1 1/2 lbs) raspberries
4 cups / 1L sugar

How-To

Puree the berries in a food processor or blender, then press through a sieve with a fine screen to separate the seeds from the pulp (look at that incredible colour!)

Pour the berry pulp into a large saucepan and heat to a boil. Add the sugar and continue to simmer until it passes a gel test — this should take 10-15 minutes.

Skim off any foam and pour into sterilized jars (mine filled exactly four). Either refrigerate once cool or preserve using a hot water bath.

Enjoy!

Not sure about the intricacies of canning? It’s not difficult even if you’re intimidated at first. Local Kitchen has a great post that lays out all the steps to do it right. (She’s a little more thorough than I am, but learning good habits is never a bad thing.)

Notes

Mix the left over seeds and any of the foam skimmed from the jam with twice the amount of white vinegar in a jar and let sit for a few weeks away from the light. Strain and you’ll have raspberry vinegar to enjoy!

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to make a strawberry tart/pie. Believe it or not, in spite of strawberries being one of my favourite fruits, I’ve only eaten strawberry pie once or twice in my life and this seemed like the perfect time to remedy that.

I looked up examples online, and quickly saw that there were as many versions of Strawberry Pie as there are people making them. (A lot.)

My first idea was to make one with a custard filling… but that would mean using egg yolks… which would leave me with more egg whites. (Eep!) So I started rethinking this project. What about a strawberry tart with both chocolate on the inside and on the outside? Still beautiful to look at, and maybe even a little bit more yummy.

The first time I tried making a crust, I figured I’d use a regular pastry, reduce the amount of flour and replace it with cocoa. Technically it was fine — it didn’t spread in weird ways or do anything strange or unexpected — but flavour-wise, well, it just wasn’t all that spectacular — you couldn’t taste enough of the chocolate to make it worth the trouble (and when it’s hot and/or humid, pastry can be a bit of a trouble!) I guess there’s a reason why you don’t see these things around much.

It then dawned on me to make a cookie crust — a chocolate shortbread that’s yummy, and good at holding its shape would be perfect.

And you know what? It was a success! What’s great about these is that they look really impressive, but in fact are really easy.

So without further ado, here’s how to recreate the  chocolate & strawberry yumminess:

The Recipe:

makes six 3 inch / 7.5cm tarts or one 9 inch / 23cm pie

For the crust (based on a cookie found on Epicurious)
1/2 cup / 125mL unsalted butter
1/4 cup / 60mL sugar
3/4 cup + 2tbsp / 120mL flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tbsp / 30mL cornstarch
1/8 tsp / 0.5mL salt

For the filling
4 oz / 130g dark chocolate
2 tbsp / 30mL heavy (35%) cream

For the topping
sliced strawberries
aproximately 2-3 tbsp / 30-45mL balsamic vinegar or Grand Marnier

dark chocolate to drizzle (optional)
whipped cream (optional)

How-To:

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F / 175 degrees C

Whip the butter until creamy, then add the sugar and continue whipping until combined. Measure on top of the butter, the flour, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Mix with the butter and sugar mixture until well combined.

The texture will be crumbly and dry so make sure it’s of uniform colour and that there’s no dry ingredients left at the bottom of the bowl.

If using a pie plate: spoon all dough into the plate and chill (in fridge or freezer) until very cold

If using tart tins: divide dough equally between tins and chill in fridge or freezer until cold.

When chilled, use a chilled spoon or your hands and press the dough evenly into the plate or tins — return to freezer as necessary (I did this on a hot day, it might not otherwise be necessary). It’s easier to spread the dough when it’s very cold.

Bake until dry to touch and edges are beginning to brown. Approximately 18 minutes for the tarts, longer for a pie crust.

To fill the crust:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and add the cream. Stir to combine.

Pour  chocolate mixture into baked crust(s). (If making tarts, divide evenly).

Place strawberries in a bowl, and toss with balsamic vinegar or Grand Marnier. Immediately begin arranging the slices on the chocolate — start at the outside and work towards the centre.

Optional: melt more chocolate and drizzle on top (this is your chance to get in touch with your inner Jackson Pollack).

Also optional: top with a dollop of whipped cream prepared to your liking.

Enjoy!

Notes:

You can make the tarts crusts and freeze them unbaked for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use, simply let them defrost at room temperature for about 10 minutes, then cook as above. Fill with whatever you want!

I have been really enjoying eating the homemade instant oatmeal that I figured out a while back — it’s easy, delicious, healthy and portable (just what I like!) but truth be told, after a month and a half, I’m ready for something a little different (at least for a while — then I’ll go back!)

I pulled out my trusty muffin book, and found a recipe for Apricot Muffins. Yum! Usually I make the recipes in that book without any changes (they don’t really need them) but lately I’ve been taking Shirley O’Corriher’s advice over leavening agents to heart, and decided to see what would happen if I didn’t put in all the leaveners called for in the original recipe.

She suggests that more than 1/4 tsp / 1mL baking soda per cup of flour or 1 – 1 1/4 tsp / 5-6mL baking powder per cup of flour is over doing it with the leavening agents. With too much leaveners, you risk having flat results. I’ve never had that problem with the muffins in this book, but if I can get the same results with less, why not, right?

The original recipe calls for 2tsp / 10mL of baking powder and 1/2 tsp / 2mL of baking soda, which I’ve adapted down to 1 tsp / 5mL of powder and 1/4 tsp / 1mL of soda. Both rise well in my experience. The original recipe gives a slightly taller, smoother top, but with the adapted version, I found the cake to be moister (that might also have to do with general humidity and/or the time in the oven.)

Another change I made was that the original recipe calls for ground dried apricots, whereas I prefer diced for extra texture. Either way you do it, it’s a tasty muffin. These muffins are very sweet & apricot-y and are nice with a cup of tea.

Oh! and the baby food? Use it. It adds to both the flavour and the moistness of the muffin, and no matter how weird it sounds, it helps to make them taste great!

The Recipe

A variation of Apricot Muffins from Company’s Coming’s Muffins and More
makes 6 jumbo or 18 regular muffins

1 egg
1/4 cup / 50mL vegetable oil
7 1/2 oz / 213mL jar of apricot baby food (I used Heinz’s Apricot Dessert)
1 3/4 cup / 425mL flour
1/2 cup / 125mL sugar
1 tsp / 5mL baking powder
1/4 tsp / 1mL baking soda
1/2 tsp / 2mL salt
2/3 cup / 180mL diced dried apricots

How-To

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (F) / 200 degrees (C).

Combine the egg, oil, baby food in a bowl and stir well.

Measure out the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt on top of the wet ingredients. Top off with the dried apricots, then stir just to combine. Try not to over stir as it will make the muffins tough! The dough will be a little lumpy.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Check them regularly and remove them from the oven as soon as the crumbs on your tester look dry.

Enjoy!

Strawberries? Yum!

Black pepper? Tasty.

Strawberries and black pepper? That sounds … interesting. (What the hell is she thinking???)

Yeah, okay, up until last summer, black pepper paired with fruit was a little bit of a foreign concept to me too. But trust me on this — it’s worth giving a try. No, really — grab a strawberry, or a slice of fresh pineapple, and crack some pepper over it. Tasty, right? Yeah, I thought so too!

This jam has all the goodness of homemade strawberry jam, with a little kick of black pepper. The black pepper is not too dominant while still staying present (although it does heat up a little more when the jam is warmer). If you’re one of those people who have a hard time getting going in the morning, this might perk you up a bit without slapping you across the face — figuratively speaking, of course — kinda like a mild-to-medium salsa.

The Recipe

makes approximately 3- 1 cup / 250mL jars

4 cups / 1L roughly chopped strawberries
3 tbsp. / 45mL fresh lemon juice (reserve the peel & pips)
3 cups / 750mL sugar
1 tsp. / 5mL fresh ground black pepper

How-To

Place the strawberries and lemon juice in a large sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the fruit is tender. Mash the strawberries, then add the sugar and pepper and stir to dissolve. Secure the lemon peel and pips in a spice bag or cheese cloth and add to the pan. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly, stirring occasionally, until jam is thick and passes a gel test (this usually takes 10 – 15 minutes, but can vary).

Pour into jars and either refrigerate once cool or preserve using a hot water bath.

Not sure about the intricacies of canning? Local Kitchen has a great post with all sorts of info to get you started. She’s a little more thorough than I am, but learning good habits is never a bad thing.