I used up two of my giant pile of mangoes yesterday, but six more were sitting on my counter, threatening me with their ripeness. I love jam, in fact, now that I can bake a great baguette and figured out how to make my own butter, I occasionally survive for days on end on toasted baguette, fresh butter, and a smear of homemade jam. I promise I will post baguette and butter recipes soon!

I like to fill my cakes with jam, and frequently forego syrup on my pancakes and French toast so I can eat them with jam instead. Instead of chocolate syrup, my ice cream gets topped with jam. And yes, if you were wondering, I did put some mango jam on top of the mango ice cream I posted yesterday! It was delicious and you should too!

Now, if you are reading this and thinking I am insane, perhaps you are used to Smuckers jam…homemade jam is a whole different ballgame! You can use less sugar, and have no need for chemicals or fillers, so your jam will be as pure as the nectar of the Greco/Roman gods! Make some jam with me people!

This recipe was in large a way for me to use up ingredients I had in a delicious way. When I was making the Prune and Almond Pithivier Puff Pastries this weekend, I made a huge batch of rum and sugar syrup to soak the prunes. I wanted to reuse it here, knowing that mango and Rum would be a lovely combination. In the recipe below, I post the ingredients in two formats, so you can replicate the flavor without having to make the prune syrup.

Mango always reminds me of Indian food, so I decided to pair the mango and rum with some cardamom and saffron. It will still be delicious without the saffron if you don’t have it on hand, but don’t skip the cardamom, it gives some lovely richness to the jam.

Mango Jam with Cardamom and Saffron

6 mangos, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 tsp cardamom
pinch of saffron
3 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups liquid from Rum infused prunes
OR 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup dark rum

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except for saffron and cardamom in a large, high sided, Dutch oven.
2. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to medium. Continue simmering for 30 minutes or so. The syrup should start to become a bit stringy and the mango pieces should fall apart if pressed against the side of the pot.
3. Turn off heat. Use an immersion blender to grind up the mango pieces, if you do not have one, use a blender or a food processor. Be careful not to burn yourself.
4. Blend to the consistency you would most enjoy. The consistency if blended evenly should be about sweet potato soup- like. Feel free to boil longer at this stage to achieve a denser jam.
5. Add saffron and cardamom and simmer another 3 minutes.
6. Clean canning jars in boiling water, or, place in an oven warmed to 200 degrees for 15 minutes.
7. Place jars on a tea towel or thick fabric surface. The glass can shatter if it is sitting on a cold surface and having hot liquid poured in.
8. Pour jam in until a half an inch away from top of jars, seal according to manufacturer instructions, and place in a large, high sided pot.
9. Pour hot water (not cold!) into the pot to cover the jars of jam.
10. Bring pot to a boil and boil for 15 minutes.
11. Remove from pot and place on fabric towel. Remember, hot glass on cold counter can shatter. Do not pour cold water over your jars.
12. I ended up with 2 12 ounce and 2 16 ounce jars of jam.
13. Serve with bread and butter!

Total time: 1hr30 min