From the page: A ripe banana is in a hurry — and full of gifts
Idea 5
Rustic banana-cinnamon jam
Before refrigerators, cooking ripe fruit with sugar was the oldest way to keep it for weeks: the high sugar concentration pulls water out of the fruit and keeps microorganisms from growing. Banana, rich in pectin when ripe, thickens on its own with no additives.
What you need
- 4 very ripe bananas (the darkest ones are the best)
- 1 cup of sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- A medium pot and a clean glass jar
How to make it
-
1
Peel and mash the bananas with a fork, leaving small chunks — that rustic texture is the soul of homemade jam.
-
2
Put everything in the pot: banana, sugar, lemon, and cinnamon. The lemon helps with preservation and brightens the flavor.
-
3
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 25 minutes until it thickens — the fruit's pectin does the setting with no gelatin at all.
-
4
It's ready when you run the spoon across the bottom of the pot and the trail takes a moment to close.
-
5
Turn off the heat, remove the cinnamon stick, and pour the hot jam into a very clean glass jar, sealing it right away — the steam creates a vacuum that helps it keep.
Finishing touches
It's divine with semi-aged cheese, on toast, or as cake filling. In the fridge, it lasts up to three weeks.
This is one of the ideas from the full page — see all the possibilities.
This page feeds the collective knowledge 🌱 — every discovery makes the next answer better.