As with most of my jams, this particular beast was made on an unplanned whim, after finding a packet of gloriously pink Yorkshire rhubarb reduced to a pound, then being super busy over the weekend it kinda got forgotten… and then I picked up 4 bramley apples a few days later for a mere 25p I just knew it had to be jam time! My previous batch of Rhubarb jam, involving ginger was really quite delicious and well received but I fancied a twist this time and a few weeks ago I bought, also on a fairly random whim a bag of Star Anise, which are gorgeously scented dark little star like spices, think Chinese 5 spice, then as the name suggests, Aniseed but not quite into liquorice territory.

Its a fairly thick jam – possibly a little too thick in after thought but that is some of my inexperience of using preserving sugar! I am still ploughing through some of the 4kg I bought of it last year reduced to clear!

Ingredients:

560g preserving sugar

300g diced rhubarb

One large bramley apple

2 balls stem ginger

2 star anise

Peel and dice the apple into small chunks. Dice the rhubarb into 1 cm chunks. Finely chop the ginger.

Place everything in a large, heavy based saucepan, cover and bring to a gentle boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until it reaches a temperature of 105o, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat, dig out the star anise and blend too make a smoother jam, if required.