MAIN Home Life Cooking Jams

Making your own jam has a basic appeal. Sitting down to a slice of toast or fancy scones covered with fresh fruit jam is a rare treat.

The drawback is that traditional jam making has always demanded a commitment of time and our undivided attention. We have to combine washed, peeled, and cut fruit pieces with just the right amount of pectin, various acids, and several cups of sugar.

It needs to be boiled and stirred constantly on the stovetop to skim off the foam and continuously blend the fruit to prevent it from floating. Once the cooking is complete, the hot mixture needs to be poured into sterilized jars and cooled for 24 hours, with fingers crossed that it will indeed, set.

Besides the cooking challenges, it's hard to fit time for that kind of activity in a busy schedule, so the local market has replaced the kitchen for the place to get jams.

Not everyone is at home in a kitchen, but from time to time modern advancements are able to coax our hidden culinary talent - and sometimes even make us a star.

How about an ingenious, pre-measured, all-in-one formula to help make a batch of fresh fruit jam - in just 10 minutes?

"From time to time, a shortcut is introduced to help simplify jam making, but there's never been anything like JamExpress," says Greg Petrie at Dr. Oetker, producers of this welcomed new product. "Now it's so easy, you and your kids can make jam together."

Here's how:

• In a microwavable bowl, blend the product with your choice of whole cut fruit, or fresh frozen fruit.
• After just 5 minutes in the microwave, fill two, 250 mL jars, and cool.
• No need to add any sugar, the jars do not have to be sterilized, and the setting time for perfect jam is about half-a-day.

If you ever wonder about the age of the jam you buy, or how long it's been sitting on the grocer's shelf, then making it yourself is an appealing alternative, says Petrie.

Just make it fresh and serve it fresh. Hey," he said, "even I can do it!"