Making Raspberry and Basil Jam - and getting the stains out with Persil

We were recently sent some fantastic jam making products by Persil. They arrived just as my Grandma's raspberries were at their best, so it was absolutely perfect timing! Persil have a new dual action capsules, which are designed to remove stains with granules and concentrated liquid. They have created special jam duels to celebrate two different ingredients working well together. I hadn't ever made raspberry jam before, but really liked the sound of Raspberry and Basil jam, so I set to work.


My Grandma is the chief jam maker, so she oversaw the entire process. My cousin Katie helped immensely and my daughter stirred briefly, so there were rather a few generations involved! I decided quite early on that I would test the new Persil range with my jam covered apron when I had finished.

The recipe was put together by Kimberley Wilson from the Great British Bake Off, and you can find it here.

Ingredients
Makes 1x 17oz/0.5lt jar

300g fresh raspberries
300g granulated sugar or jam sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
Small bunch/5-8g fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

One sterilised 0.5lt jar


Method

Place the raspberries in a pan with the sugar and lemon juice, if using. Over a low heat stir gently until the sugar has dissolved. You can check this by running a wooden spoon across the base of the pan; it should feel smooth and not grainy. Use a pastry brush dipped in a little water to push down any grains of sugar on the side of the saucepan.

Once the sugar has dissolved turn up the heat and boil until the temperature reads 106C, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before stirring in the chopped basil.

Ladle the jam into the jar, seal and cool before storing in a cool dry place.

We haven't yet tried the jam, because it said to leave it for a month. I am really looking forward to it though, because the smells were amazing whilst we were cooking it!



I did manage to get rather messy whilst making the jam (although this was assisted slightly by my daughter),  so I thought it would only be fair to test out the Persil Dual Action Capsules and see how well they really work. I have to admit that I was pretty sceptical that it would manage to get dried in jam stains off and my Grandma resolutely told me that it wouldn't work!


i popped it in the washing machine on a 40 degree short wash and was pretty amazed that literally every single stain had been removed!


The new Capsules are available in both 17 and 28 wash packs and work with two separate 'compartments':

· The microgranules (stain removal powder) contain an active ingredient that works as a stain remover on bleachable stains such as black tea, red wine, black coffee, strawberry jam and blackcurrant juice

· The liquid (cleaning) contains surfactants to actively clean clothes

They are available in tubs of 17 washes at an RRP of £8.32 and in tubs of 28 washes at an RRP of £9.99. They are also available as Persil Non-Bio.

To find out more, check out www.persil.co.uk.

Disclosure: We were provided with a jam making kit for the purpose of this post, but were not asked to use the product to clean clothes. All opinions are my own and are honest and fair.