Homemade Fig Jam

I love fruit trees. They bring about beautiful flowers, delicious fruit and even the sounds of happy and satisfied birds and animals. It’s so lovely seeing birds happily sharing the fruit from our trees. And the same goes for our fig trees. Some of the figs are too high for me to reach, and the birds know that these are welcome for them to enjoy. They leave the lower fruit for me to pick when they are ripe and ready.

Although this is the second year these fig trees are bearing fruit, the figs are so sweet and juicy. The fruit is small but just amazing in flavour. You can’t find the same flavour in mass produced foods. And with the bounty of figs we have on our trees every morning, I wanted to share my fig jam recipe with you.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Does the size of the fruit matter when making this jam?

No, you can use whatever size figs you want. If using larger figs, and you prefer a smoother jam, cut the fruit into smaller pieces. If you want a slightly chunkier jam, then cut the figs into 8 pieces and that should be fine.

Can I use these quantities to make other fruit jams?

I wouldn’t recommend using this recipe for other jam recipes. Instead I would substitute the honey for sugar and I wouldn’t add any vanilla to other jams such as strawberry, blueberry or marmalade.

How long does this jam last?

This homemade fig jam lasts 3 weeks in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer. This jam does not contain any artificial preservatives like pectin so it doesn’t last as long as the jams you can find at the supermarket.

Preparation Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40-45 minutes

Yields 2 cups fig jam

Ingredients

1 kg fresh figs- stemmed and cut into quarters

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Place the figs, sugar, honey and lemon juice in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir to combine. Cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat until the sugar melts. Bring it to a boil

2. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 40 minutes until thickened. Continuously stir the jam while cooking otherwise it will burn.

3. Once thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

4. Cool the jam and then transfer to clean and dry glass jars.