coomber-webb

Not the warmest of August bank holidays but it’s ok.

Camp set up

BBQ on the go

Camp fire on the go. Perfect way to spend the evening

Boys playing in the trees

A walk in the woods

Boys riding the logs home

The site

And again

Ingredients

2kg pears, peeled, chopped and cored
1kg granulated sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1 litre water

Achieving the perfect results

Heat the oven to 180?C.

Put the pears and water into a large pan, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the pears are very soft and the water has reduced by about a third.

Warm the sugar in the oven before adding it to the pears and stirring gently until it’s completely dissolved. Warming the sugar first speeds up this process.

Turn up the heat, and boil the pears rapidly for about eight minutes, then take the pan off the heat and check to see if the setting point has been reached. Keep checking every minute until the jam is ready then take the pan off the heat.

Sterilise your jam jars while the jam is resting, then pot up.

Ingredients

Serves: 50

1kg peeled, cored, and chopped apples
250ml water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 (13g) sachets pectin
1.75kg caster sugar
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
100g dark brown soft sugar

Method

Prep: 45min  ›  Cook: 15min  ›  Ready in: 1hr

Sterilise jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Let simmer while making jam.

In a large saucepan, combine apples, water and lemon juice. Cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in pectin, and bring to the boil. Stir in the caster sugar, and continue boiling and stirring uncovered for 1 minute, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in brown sugar, allspice, and nutmeg.

Quickly fill jars to within 1cm of the top. Wipe rims clean, and top with lids. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes to seal.

The Results
Apple Jam, Pecan and Maple Tarts

First they grow it, then they changes colour.

Little man

Big man

Ingredients

750g cooking apples (Bramley’s are best)
350g ripe plums
juice of 1 lemon
100g golden caster sugar

For the cobbler
100g self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
50g butter
50g golden caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp milk
50g/2oz walnut pieces

Methods

Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional180C/gas 4. Butter a 1.5 litre ovenproof pie dish.Peel, core and slice the apples. Halve, stone and quarter the plums.

Put the apples in a pan with the lemon juice, sugar and 1 tbsp water. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the plums and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Turn the fruit into the prepared dish. Tip the flour and cinnamon into a bowl, add the butter, cut into small pieces and rub in with your fingertips.

Stir in the sugar, then add the egg and milk and mix lightly to a soft batter (this can be done in the food processor).Drop tablespoonsful of the batter over the fruit, leaving gaps where the fruit peers through, then scatter over the nuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping has a crisp brown crust.

Apple and Plum Tart

A beautiful tart filled with a sweet sponge and a fruity combination of sweet plums and tart apples.

Ingredients
Sweet pastry
250g of plain flour (2 cups)
125g of unsalted butter, chilled and cubed (1/2 cup)
85g of caster sugar (a scant 1/3 cup)
1 large free range egg

Sponge
45g of unsalted butter (1/3 cup)
90g caster sugar (1/3 cup)
1 large free range egg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
90g of plain flour (a scant 7/8 cup)

Fruit
4 large sweet plums, pitted and cut into quarters
1 large granny smith apple, cored and cut into slices

3 TBS apricot jam to glaze

Method

First make the pastry. Place the flour, butter and sugar into a food processor and blitz until all crumbly. Add the beaten egg and blitz again until well combined. Press evenly into a 12 inch tart tin with a loose bottom.

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3.

Cream together the butter and sugar for the sponge, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and baking powder. Fold in the flour. Spread this batter evenly into the prepared pastry shell. Scatter the fruit over top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the heated oven. The sponge will have risen up around the fruit and the fruit will have sunk a little and be juicy. Remove from the oven. Heat the apricot jam over low heat and brush over top of the warm tart.

Ingredients

1kg plums – peeled, stones removed and chopped
1kg apples – peeled, cored and chopped
200g granulated sugar
150g light brown soft sugar
250ml cider vinegar
100g sultanas
4 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons grated root ginger
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 to 4 teaspoons dried red chilli flakes (to taste)

Method

Prep: 25min  ›  Cook: 45min  ›  Ready in: 1hr10min

Combine all ingredients in a large casserole or heavy pot. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring frequently, until the apples and plums are tender and the chutney is thickened.

Ladle hot chutney into sterilised jars and seal, or allow to cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Will last in the fridge for a month.

Yield
This chutney makes about five 250ml jars.

Ingredients

1.5kg plums, stones removed and peeled
150ml water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1.5kg caster sugar
2 (13g) sachets pectin

Method

Prep: 30min  ›  Cook: 30min  ›  Extra time: 30min  ›  Ready in: 1hr30min

Place plums, water and lemon juice in a large non-reactive saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium high heat, stirring often. Once at the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until fruit is tender, about 10 mins.

Return to the boil, stir in sugar and stir continuously whilst the jam is boiling. Add pectin and boil for exactly 1 minute (do not overcook the pectin or the jam may not set properly).

Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Pour into sterilised jam jars, leaving about 5mm space at the top of each. A funnel may help with this, but ensure it’s sterilised if using one.

Wipe jam jar rims, and top with sterilised lids. Process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes, then remove and allow to cool at room temperature. Store in fridge once opened.

First batch of 2014 plum jam produced, 4kg of jam done ready to eat .

We’ve done an apple and plum harvest.
Half the plums had fallen, naughty us. But a load of apple’s still attached.
We’ve had a good year for fruit.

Leia had to get in on the action.
And all this still to go.

Sleepy heads on the plane. Can’t object we did start at 2.30am