If you love rhubarb, don’t miss its season without making delicious vanilla flavored rhubarb jam. You will enjoy its taste both at breakfast and in different desserts.
You can serve rhubarb jam on buttered toast, like any other jam. You can also use it in cake recipes. A tart filled with rhubarb jam will surely win over anyone who loves a sweet taste, and so will a cake with rhubarb jelly or rhubarb cream.
Rhubarb is a spring plant with long stems and large leaves, colored in reddish shades. Only the stems are edible, while the leaves contain toxins and high concentrations of oxalic acid.
The stems are very fleshy and have a sour and slightly acidic taste. They have beneficial properties for the body, as they contain significant amounts of antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals that are essential for the proper functioning of the body.
Below, we offer you the detailed recipe for jam from rhubarb stems.
Flavored rhubarb jam recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg rhubarb stalks, cleaned
- 750 grams of sugar
- The juice of half a lemon
- 1 vanilla pod
Preparation
As for any other jam recipe, it is necessary to prepare beforehand both the ingredients and the dishes and utensils you use, as well as the jars.
You need a large saucepan, preferably stainless steel and with a layered base. You also need a vegetable peeler, a knife and a wood chopper.
You can prepare the jars while the jam is boiling.
Steps for flavored rhubarb jam
Rinse the rhubarb stalks well and pat them dry with paper towels. Next, clean the rhubarb stalks using the vegetable peeler. Remove the top skin well because it is fibrous and does not soften through boiling.
After cleaning, chop the rhubarb stalks into smaller pieces and transfer to the saucepan. Add the sugar and mix well. Cover the saucepan and let the rhubarb pieces rest for at least 30 minutes, stirring them occasionally to help dehydrate and form a syrup.
Place the saucepan with the jam ingredients on the stove, and simmer over medium to high heat until foam forms on the surface. Remove the foam using a fine sieve, then reduce the heat and let the ingredients simmer until the syrup reduces and the rhubarb pieces fall apart. 5 minutes before turning off the heat, add vanilla and lemon juice. Do not add the vanilla at the beginning, to prevent its aroma from evaporating.
Even though rhubarb stalks are sour, lemon juice is important to add for preserving the jam.
How to sterilize jars before filling them with jam
Wash the jars and lids thoroughly with hot water and dish soap. Rinse them well and place in a large pot. Pour over enough water to cover the jars and place the pot on the stove on low to medium heat. Heat the jars for 10 minutes from the moment the water starts boiling, then remove from the pot and let them drain with their mouths down on a clean kitchen towel.
Fill the jars with the hot jam.
Close the jars tightly with the lids and cover them with blankets. Leave the jars under the blankets until they completely cool, then label them and transfer to the pantry.