Fig Rum Jam

Why is the Rum Gone?

This will be the final installment in my jam making saga (for now, at least).  The third type of jam we made was a fig rum jam (or drunken fig if you prefer).  My mom had hoped to make some fig jam with me using the figs from their fig trees.  Alas, she waited too long to pick them and the birds got to them.  Had she picked them earlier, though, the figs would have spoiled before I got there.  Kind of no win either way.  The fig jam was saved though.  My dad was talking with another farmer at the farmer’s market and told him the story of the loss of figs and lack of fig jam making.  This farmer happened to have 12 pounds of figs he was happy to sell.  So, that afternoon we had 12 pounds of figs to make into jam.  Yay!  That’s a lot of jam.

We found a recipe online here and of course made it our own.  Mainly, we used rum instead of brandy or cognac.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.  Let me know if you make it and what your thoughts are.  If you make any tweaks of your own, feel free to share them here.  I love hearing how you make it your own.

Ingredients:

2 Lemons

4 pounds ripe figs, stemmed and cut into ½ inch pieces

Peel of 2 lemons, sliced into thin strips

4 cups granulated sugar

¾  cups rum

Tools:

6 half-pint jars with lids

2 large stock pots, one filled with water

Canning rack, placed in large stock pot full of water

Immersion blender

Jar tongs

Ladle

Funnel

Instructions:

1. To prepare your jars, begin by boiling the water in the pot with the rack.  Place the jars and lids on the rack and allow to sit in the boiling water for 10 minutes.  Use the jar tongs to remove and place on a clean towel.  This may need to be done in batches and can be done at the same time you are preparing the jam mixture.  Do the same thing for the lids and rims.
2. In a stock pot, combine the figs, lemon peel, sugar, and rum.  Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Use an immersion blender periodically to crush large chunks.
3. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.
4. Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil until jam thickens and is reduced to about 6 cups, stirring frequently.  This will take 30-35 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, and ladle jam into prepared jars, using funnel to minimize spilling.
6. Wipe rims of jars and use prepared lids and rims to close.
7. Place the filled and closed jars back on the rack in the boiling water bath of the other stockpot.  Allow to boil for 10 minutes.
8. Using the jar tongs, remove from the water and place on a clean towel.
9. Allow the jars to set overnight.  The tops of the lids should “pull in” - when pressed, they do not push in or bounce back.