Friday 2 March 2012

Purple Grape Jam with White Bread Loaf

I had been eyeing this jam for a couple of months now and i had been sceptical of baking bread for even longer. Then i saw my friend bake bagels from scratch and knew it was time for me to draw some inspiration. I had been telling her that i would bake a bread from her blog because she was doing it all too easily and all too frequently.  I may have been postponing it because nobody was asking me to do these. If i did make both bread and jam from scratch, it would be solely for me. The husband won't touch bread especially when it has jam in it (will eat Subway breads only!). And is not much of a breakfast person either. I decided i should do it for my own satisfaction. Boy was i happy. I finished making jam at 5 in the evening, then made these for the husband to snack on and finally pushed my bread into the oven. Fresh bread came out at 8 pm. And i didn't have the patience to wait till breakfast to try these out. So my dinner came in the form of purple jam lathered over freshly baked and sliced bread. I have no complaints. Making something from scratch going slightly out of your comfort zone gives tremendous satisfaction. And for me, i have not done anything so elaborate just myself after getting married. Usually when the husband is out and i have to cook only for myself, i have only ever made Maggi noodles or eaten left over rice from the morning or convinced him to bring me takeaway. So to go out to such lengths to prepare something only for myself wasn't bad at all. I should try it again sometime.

The source recipe used concord grapes with seeds. I have no idea what the grapes i buy at the local farmers market are called, we only get four varieties green or black and with seeds or seedless. Now from the moment i saw that recipe my mind could only think of simplifying the jam using seedless grapes. I wasn't going to skin the grapes, cook the remaining pulp, strain it and add the skins back. But at that time i couldn't find black seedless grapes so i bought a half kilo of green grapes instead and this happened a couple of times as i ended up eating them as fruits. (I know, eating fruits as they are! i must have been possessed!) Now ever since i had seen this grape jam recipe i had been smitten by the purple colour rendered  by the skin of the black grapes. But because my laziness took over, i was willing to compromise that using green grapes. Then surprise! i found seedless black grapes in the market. And that is how this incredibly beautiful jam came to be.
Jam recipe modified from here

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Yield: About 3 cups

Ingredients for Jam
1 kilo seedless black grapes (4 cups)
2 cups sugar
Method
  1. Remove the grapes from their stem, wash and drain them. Crush them coarsely by pulsing in a blender for 4 seconds or using a hand blender. 
  2. Pour into a heavy bottomed saucepan on medium-high heat. Once the grape pulp comes to a simmer add the sugar and mix it in.
  3. Now stir continuously for 15-30 minutes on medium-high heat until the mixture becomes syrupy, slightly thickens and jam is formed.
When done, the jam should coat the spoon without being runny. Or when a little jam is placed on a cold plate, placed back in the fridge for a few seconds, should have wrinkled top layer when pushed.
Perfect breakfast with home-made bread, purple grape jam and fresh green grape juice
I also made a simple white bread loaf to go with the jam. As promised I used the recipe from Anita's Sliceofmylyfe and allowed for two rises, but used the continuous kneading technique from my previous orange bread loaf.

Linking this to the event "Spotlight: Colourful Holi" by Chandrani of Cuisine Delights.
Sending this to Rasi's event 'I am the star' at Vegetarian Food & Me.
Linking this to Srav's Vegan Diet: Only Plant food
Linking this to Ramya's event ABC Series: Fruit Fiesta
And linking this to Sobha's Just 4 fun event at Good Food.
 

48 comments:

  1. Purple grape is my fav. Jam with bread loaf looks yummy.

    Cuisine Delights
    My First Event - "COLOURFUL HOLI".

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  2. Jam looks so perfect. Loved the color.

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  3. this is simply beautiful!........i am totally making this soon...i love doing preserves,and havent tried this one out ....lovely recipe.

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  4. Wow homemade jam ! it takes lots of patience I know. Loved the color....


    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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    1. This one gets done in a jiffy. Unlike other jams i 've made and seen made before. Thanks for dropping by.

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  5. wow..loved it.thanx 4 sharing this..vl try this sure.......

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  6. what a gorgeous color! You make it seem so so easy. I haven't made jams or preserves before but you inspire me to do it now. Thanks for linking back , La. Love how the loaf looks so well done and fresh from the oven, I exactly know how amazing it would have tasted.

    xx
    A

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    1. I forgot adding the nuts in the loaf, but it still came out beautifully. Got a bit of confidence back, thanks to you :-)

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  7. Mmmhhh, delicious! I've never had grape jam, but I'm sure I'd love this wonderful speciality.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  8. What a delicious looking jam!!
    Perfect to go with those slices... :)

    Event : Cakes, Cookies and Desserts

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  9. Wow, worth all the effort, looks awesome and the color, simply love it..

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    Replies
    1. That colour was what lured me and haunted my dreams :)

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  10. your jam has a lovely purple colour. this recipe is right in time for my FRUIT FIESTA event..do join in

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  11. thanks for sending the first entry :-)

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    1. happy to participate and thrilled to be the first :)

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  12. La this couldn't get more perfect.. Firstly going the extra mile to cook for self..wow! i am so much happier with maggi or ordering out too :)..The purple jam looks fantastic & u have baked bread.. my fav, u know :)..So happy u linked it to the event..has all my fav combo's..How i wish i could have a slice now of fresh baked bread with purple jam :)

    Ongoing Event: I'm a STAR

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    1. Thanks Rasi.. I may not have mentioned that it was only for me if i didn't see your event. Turns out i am the only one that wants breakfast and this is a good change from my usual cereal and milk :)

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  13. great recipe. looks so delicious. I never tasted grape jam. I think i should try after seeing your pics.

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    1. Do let me know how you like it Kanan. I loved it and am sure to make another batch when this jam gets over. And thank you kindly for following my blog.

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  14. Home made jam looks so delicious.. Happy to follow you..

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  15. Love the bread and the jam. Can you share the bread recipe?

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    1. Archana, I have mentioned the bread recipe links right after the last photo. You can use Anita's recipe which has nuts added in or my old recipe that substitutes water with orange juice for a subtle orange flavour.

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  16. Hi La, homemade bread and freshly made jam....life that dinner could not have been more perfect, could it? I love eating breakfast things for main meals too :-)

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    1. We have that in common then.. i 've recently realised that i always prefer breakfast things any time of the day, and not just south indian breakfasts as i originally thought :)

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  17. Great post. I am right into making my own jam. http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/making-jam.html

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Carol. Enjoyed your post on making jam and took away some tips too. This is only the second jam i made and happy to have learned more from you

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  18. the jam looks fantastic, have to love that intense purple colour! even i was thrilled when i spotted red & green seedless grapes 2 weeks back, been stuffing myself with them like ther's no tomo! bread also looks just perfectly browned & airy... that must have been one fantastic dinner :)

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    1. It was Deepthi, i even ate it with rotis today evening when i ran out of potato curry (was too lazy to make a new curry when there was a little left over from the day before). Thank you.

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  19. Yummy home made jam !! looks perfect !! Thanks for linking to the event !!

    Ongoing event CC:Vegan Diet - Plant Based Food

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  20. Why on earth would your husband prefer Subway over this? I am just so envious of your cooking/baking abilities - it looks fantastic!

    Hope you are having a great weekend!

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    1. Oh everyone has their quirks. I 'd better not change him, or else bread baking might become a chore instead of a hobby :)
      And thank you. Btw i am envious of your writing abilities and sense of humour. I think i have come about half way reading through your archives.

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  21. lovely and yummy jam..u are an expert dear...:)

    Join the Just "4" Fun event :)

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  22. i made it!...........it was super..........thank you so very much!

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  23. Thanx a lot dear for another yummy entry :)

    Join the Just "4" Fun event :)

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  24. I have been a little obsessed with jam lately. Not eating it, just making it! This looks super yummy :)

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  25. Just beautiful! I love this jam!

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  26. Lately, I have developed such intense love for Jams and yours look perfect .. This dark color is making me drool over..

    nice rustic pics

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  27. i haven't had grape jam b'fore. great recipe!thanks for sharing. btw great blog. following u..

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  28. Ooooh look at that gorgeous color; almost looks like blueberry jam, isn't it?! Bread looks well baked too.
    There have been so many times my grapes went brown or wilted because I got bored of eating them everyday. Now realizing could have made this jam. Next time.

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  29. Wowwww.. looks simply awesome and delicious.. love the presentation too.. First time here.. you have a wonderful blog with amazing recipes.. happy to follow your blog :)
    Indian Cuisine

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