Seedless Grape Jam (Kishmish)
People don't make it all that often, but it turns out delicious! Sweet, with a bright muscat aroma and a light fruity taste. Kishmish (seedless grapes) stand out from other varieties because they keep their nutritional and healthful properties even after cooking. Don't cook this jam down until thick—the whole charm is in the grape syrup. Use it to soak cake layers, or stir it into fruit punch, fruit sauces, desserts, cottage cheese, and yogurt.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
Use white or black grapes at first ripeness for the jam. The tastiest jam comes from varieties like Rizamat, Chaush, Vostorg, Talisman, Agadai, Nimrang, Muscat, Isabella, and Kishmish.
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Step 2:
Pull the grapes off their stems, keeping only the whole, firm ones. Rinse them thoroughly in a colander under cool water.
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Step 3:
You can cook a syrup separately by adding 250 ml of water to 0.5 kg of sugar. Then add the grapes to the boiling syrup and cook over low heat.
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Step 4:
I prefer it another way: put the grapes in the preserving pan, add 0.5 kg of sugar, stir, and pour in 250 ml of water (grape juice is even better). Cook over low heat until the sugar fully dissolves, then raise the heat to medium.
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Step 5:
Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently, but don't skim off the foam yet.
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Step 6:
Then take it off the heat, tilt the pan to gather the foam in the center, and skim it off in 3–4 passes.
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Step 7:
There won't be much foam, but be sure to skim it—the quality of the finished jam depends on it.
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Step 8:
Gradually stir the rest of the sugar into the clean, hot jam. Let it steep for 6–8 hours. Then repeat the cycle 2 more times, without adding any more sugar. On the third round, add the citric acid at the end of cooking. (Adjust the acid and sugar to taste—it all depends on how sweet the grapes are. If you don't like things very sweet, you can use just 0.5 kg of sugar; the jam will still keep well, with fewer calories to boot.)
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Step 9:
The finished jam has whole grapes in a syrup that's syrupy but not thick. If you want, you can cook it down to a thicker consistency over low heat, but then it's no longer a "five-minute" jam.
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Step 10:
Pour the hot jam into warm, dry, sterile jars. Seal them airtight with sterile lids, turn them upside down, and leave them to cool. If it's not for long-term storage and you're using a plastic lid, pour it in hot and leave it uncovered until completely cool, then put the lid on. I ended up with two 0.5-liter jars, one 370 ml, and one 250 ml.
- Grape jam, even the five-minute kind, is made many ways. I've shared mine—it comes out with whole grapes in grape syrup. Grape juice works well in place of the water. The texture is a lot like cherry jam with the pits in, but there are no pits—that's the beauty of it! You can add other fruits and berries to the jam: apples, pears, gooseberries. In that case, cut back on the grapes in proportion to the other fruit. Add mint or lemon balm, lemon, orange, vanilla, cinnamon, or cloves for different flavor notes. Store it in a dark, cool place or in the fridge.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Grapes - 65 kcal/100g
- Granulated sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Citric acid - 0 kcal/100g
- Water - 0 kcal/100g
