It smells like oranges in my kitchen

Do you ask yourself why? I can tell you. It smells like oranges, because I've finally dared and cooked my first jam. Why I haven’t done it before? Honestly, I do not know. Perhaps because until now my grandma always makes it. Or because I'm not such a big jam fan. The classic versions are too sweet, so I opted for a more exotic variant namely orange Aperol jam.

We need:

500 ml freshly squeezed orange juice

250 g gelling sugar 2:1

50 ml Aperol

3 star anise

4 cardamom capsule

Here we go:

Cut oranges in half and squeeze.

Stop! Do not throw away the orange peels! Put them into a container and place in the freezer. From this we can produce candied orange peel.

Give the fresh orange juice in a pan

Put star anise and cardamom a spice ball / tea strainer or tea bag and hang in the pot.

Add the jam sugar and stir.

Bring to boil while stirring over high heat. Cook for at least 3 minutes bubbly.

At the end of the cooking time add the Aperol.

Jelly test: put 1-2 teaspoons of the hot fruit mixture onto a chilled plate. If the mass becomes firm, then also the rest of the jam will get firm. If you desire a stronger strength, give a little citric acid under the hot fruit mixture. Make a second jelly test.

Take out the spices and remove the pan from the stove. Immediately pour into glasses. Seal with screw caps (twist-off) and leave the glasses for 5 minutes on their head.