jam Archives - My Kitchen Clatter

Raspberry Jam

July 11, 2022 by andrea Leave a Comment

It’s the season for raspberries again! I love foraging for black raspberries and making them into jam that we can enjoy the rest of the year.

I keep this jam very simple – just raspberries, a little sugar and some pectin. I find that this jam doesn’t need anything else to make it wonderful. Sometimes simple is the best.

A little note on the pectin. I like using pectin for raspberry jam because the raspberries don’t have much natural pectin in them. The pectin allows the jam to thicken quickly without a lot of cooking. I find this results in a brighter raspberry flavor. I use Pomona’s Pectin as it allows me to use less sugar that other brands of pectin. I also follow the recipe in the box of pectin, except I use a little less pectin. This gives a looser set to the jam, which I like. If you like a thicker jam, then increase your pectin and calcium waters to 2 teaspoons each. You can find Pomona’s at local stores like Whole Foods and Fresh Thyme or order on-line. Pomona’s website has links on which local stores carry their product.

Okay. Enough on that. Now for raspberries. I mentioned black raspberries already. I love them. But you’ll never find them in the store and probably not even at the farmers market. For those of you interested in more foraging information, The Backyard Forager is one of my favorite foraging sources. This is a link to one of her articles on black raspberries vs. blackberries.

If you don’t have a bramble bush in your backyard like I do, you can use any other raspberry for this recipe. Fresh red raspberries can be hard to find in the store because they are so delicate and don’t transport or stay fresh very long. Ideally, you want to use them within a couple days of picking. If you can’t find good fresh raspberries, feel free to use frozen raspberries. They will be as good, maybe better, than fresh. And remember – you can freeze your fresh raspberries for later, if you can’t get to them in time.

If you have extra raspberries that you don’t know what to do with, here are some ideas. Besides eating them fresh, I love adding them to kombucha. You can also add them into (or on top of) your overnight sourdough pancakes or waffles or oatmeal waffles. My other favorite way of using them is to put them into oatmeal – we especially love them in baked oatmeal. I’m working on posting that recipe soon – so check back for it! The jam also works heavenly in all of these recipes. I hope you enjoy!

Raspberry Jam

July has arrived along with the short raspberry season. Jam is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the taste of raspberries all year long.

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Ingredients

4 cups raspberries fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon calcium water included in Pomona's Pectin package
1 1/2 teaspoon Pomona's Pectin

Instructions

To sterilize the jars, place rack in the large pot and cover jars in water. If you don’t have a rack, fold a dish towel and place on the bottom of the pot before you put the jars and water into the pot. Place lid on the pot and bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off heat and leave the cover on the pot. This can be done while the jam is made. NOTE: A boiling water bath can be done in any stock pot that allows for water to cover the jars by at least 1-inch. A tall stock pot is fine to use, just place a towel or rack in the bottom so the jars don’t sit directly on the heat source. If your stock pot doesn’t fit all of your jelly jars, only jar up the ones that will fit in the pot, keeping the rest of the jam warm on the stove while the first batch of jars processes. Once the first jars are done processing, jar the remaining jam and process in a second batch. Alternately, you can just jar any extra jam to eat right away or freeze.
If you are going to process the jars in a water bath, prepare the lids according to the directions on the box – usually just wash and place in warm water. I do this in the small saucepan on a back burner.
Prepare calcium water according to package directions.
Combine sugar and pectin in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
Combine raspberries and calcium water in large saucepan, jam pot, or stock pot. Bring to roiling boil, stirring constantly
Add sugar and pectin mixture to raspberries mixture. Bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute or until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
Fill hot jam jars with 1/4 inch headspace.
Clean rims and place lids on jars.
Set jars into the simmering pot of water (on the rack). Jars should be covered by a minimum of one inch water. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Start timer when water is at a boil.
After the processing time is complete, turn off heat and remove cover. Let jars cool 5 minutes in the water bath. Remove jars from canner and place on a towel on the counter. Do not retighten bands, if loose. Cool 12-24 hours. Check seals. Label and store jars up to a year for best color and flavor. Any jars that don’t seal should be stored in the refrigerator and used first.
If you don’t want to process this recipe in a water bath (or you have a jar that doesn’t seal), you can jar the jams and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 6 months.

Keyword fruit, homemade, jam, preserves

Strawberry Margarita Jam

June 19, 2022 by andrea Leave a Comment

This recipe for strawberry margarita jam is perfect for when you are bored of making strawberry jam, or when you simply need a change of pace from the ordinary. Give it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

How to use this jam

I always love to make special jams, but then I sometimes find myself wondering what to do with jam that doesn’t really belong on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What? No tequila on a PB&J? However, I am not opposed to having this on an English muffin for breakfast. Other ideas to use this jam as a topping for a lemon tart or bar, swirling into a cheesecake or as a cheesecake topping. I’m thinking a key lime cheesecake would be especially fun. Or using it as a filling with a little lemon curd in teeny tiny little tarts. If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

When I’m making unique jams, I like to process them in cute little jars and then I plan to gift several of them at the holidays or as gifts throughout the year. You probably won’t want four or five jars of this in your pantry. Or, then again, maybe you will. It’s that good.

Tequila? In Jam? Yes, really…

When I was making this batch, the tequila smelled a little strong, but it mellowed out nicely in the final product. Do not be afraid! I can only imagine that the flavor will only get better as the jam ages a couple of weeks. Make sure to sample your tequila as you are cooking, otherwise what’s the point of cooking with liquor?

I chopped my lime zest into teeny tiny pieces so that it disappeared into the jam. You can barely tell it’s in the end product. That’s a good goal to aim for – no one wants tiny bits of lime zest in their teeth. Zest your limes (it took me three limes) before you juice them.

Low sugar, sweetened with honey, and a little on pectin

Strawberries don’t have a lot of natural pectin in them, so I use a bit of commercial pectin to help this jam set nicely. Most pectins on the market require lots of sugar to work or they use ingredients that produce an off-flavor. That leads me to why I use use Ponoma Pectin in this recipe to set the jam. It’s a bit hard to locate commercially, but totally worth the effort. Ponoma’s allows me to use a lot less sweetener than regular pectin. If you haven’t used this type of pectin before, I recommend checking out their product. I get nothing from them for sharing their product info – it’s just a product I prefer in my jam making.

You may also notice that we are using honey in this recipe instead of granulated sugar. I love the flavor of honey with the sweet strawberries. Again, the ability to use honey is because we are using the Ponoma’s Pectin. Most other pectin products won’t work with honey, so read your package directions carefully if you try to swap out the pectin brands.

The low sugar and short cooking time allow the flavor of the strawberries and lime to shine through the final product. It really does taste like a strawberry margarita.

Strawberry Margarita Jam

Andrea, My Kitchen Clatter

Honey sweetened and a short cooking time – allow the flavor of the strawberries and lime to shine through the final product. It really does taste like a strawberry margarita.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

processing time 10

Servings 6 small jars (4 oz)

Ingredients

3 cups crushed strawberries
1/3 cup fresh lime juices (about 3 limes)
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1 tblsp lime peel finely chopped
2 tsp calcium water (from Sonoma's package)
1 cup honey
2 tsp Sonoma's pectin

Instructions

To sterilize the jars, place rack in the large pot and cover jars in water. If you don’t have a rack, fold a dish towel and place on the bottom of the pot before you put the jars and water into the pot. Place lid on the pot and bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off heat and leave the cover on the pot. This can be done while the jam is made. NOTE: A boiling water bath can be done in any stock pot that allows for water to cover the jars by at least 1-inch. A tall stock pot is fine to use, just place a towel or rack in the bottom so the jars don’t sit directly on the heat source. If your stock pot doesn’t fit all of your jelly jars, only jar up the ones that will fit in the pot, keeping the rest of the jam warm on the stove while the first batch of jars processes. Once the first jars are done processing, jar the remaining jam and process in a second batch. Alternately, you can just jar any extra jam to eat right away or freeze.
If you are going to process the jars in a water bath, prepare the lids according to the directions on the box – usually just wash and place in warm water. I do this in the small saucepan on a back burner.
Combine room temperature honey and pectin in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
Combine strawberries, lime juice, tequila, orange liqueur, lime peel and calcium water in large saucepan, jam pot, or stock pot. Bring to roiling boil, stirring constantly.
Add honey and pectin to strawberry mixture. Bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute or until honey is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
Fill hot jam jars with 1/4 inch headspace.
Clean rims and place lids on jars.
Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Allow jars to cool completely before checking seals and storing.

Recipe for Holiday Jam

November 2, 2019 by andrea 12 Comments

First off, if anyone can come up with a better name than Holiday Jam, please let me know. At any rate, this is a little bit strawberry, a little bit cranberry, some spice, some sweet, and some tang. It pretty much has it all.

The original recipe that I based this on was a Ball Recipe that called for 5 lbs of sugar and powdered pectin. At that level of sugar, I’m not sure how you even taste anything else. I’ve cut the recipe in half to make it a small batch, and I’ve cut the sugar way down and taken out the powdered pectin. I don’t like the taste of powdered pectin and it isn’t necessary anyway, because cranberries are so high in natural pectin.

I’m pretty darn happy with the end result on this jam. It would be great as a hostess gift over the holidays. We are planning to use it over cream cheese or goat cheese on a cheese plate. I think it would also be great on turkey sandwiches. Honestly, this one, I’ve just been eating straight up on crackers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!

Holiday Jam

Recipe Type: Preserves

Author: Andrea

This is a bright jam that combines strawberries and cranberries. It is perfect for canning in small jars for holiday gift giving. It goes well over cream cheese or goat cheese, on sandwiches, or crackers.

Ingredients

4 cups frozen strawberries, slightly thawed
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 orange, peeled and seeded
zest of one orange (from above), finely shredded or chopped
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t fresh ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
3 cups of granulated sugar

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath and 5 half-pint (8 oz) jars or 10 4-oz jelly jars. A boiling water bath can be done in any stock pot that allows for water to cover the jars by at least 1-inch. A tall stock pot is fine to use, just place a towel or rack in the bottom so the jars don’t sit directly on the heat source. If your stock pot doesn’t fit all of your jelly jars (it may not if you are doing 4-oz jars), only jar up the ones that will fit in the pot, keeping the rest of the jam warm on the stove while the first batch of jars processes. Once the first jars are done processing, jar the remaining jam and process in a second batch. Alternately, you can just jar any extra jam to eat right away or freeze.
Wash and prepare lids and rings, according to the package directions.
Place strawberries, cranberries and peeled orange in food processor and pulse to medium to finely chopped, but not pureed. It will break down some as it cooks, so it is better to go with larger pieces than too small.
Combine the fruit mixture in a large skillet or dutch oven. The skillet allows for more moisture loss over the surface, which reduces cooking time and maintains the fresh fruit flavor. Stir the fruit over medium-high heat until they are combined, about 2 minutes.
Add the spices and sugar.
Stirring regularly over high heat, bring the fruit to a boil and cook until it bubbles and looks quite thick.
This will take about 15-20 minutes. It’s done when you pull a spatula through the jam and it doesn’t immediately run back into the cleared space. You can also check the temperature with a candy thermometer – it’s done when it hits 220 F.
When the jam is done cooking, remove the pot from heat and allow to rest 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Skim any foam off the surface and reserve. Ladle the de-foamed jam into the prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a wet paper towel, remove air bubbles, if necessary.
Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
After the processing time is complete, remove the jars from the water bath and place on a towel on the counter to cool. Allow to cool, untouched, for 24 hours and then check seals.
If you don’t want to process this recipe (or if you have a jar that doesn’t seal) – just jar the jams up to step 8 and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. It will also freeze well.

Blueberry Lime Jam

July 6, 2019 by andrea Leave a Comment

Blueberries are a very versatile fruit for jam and it is easy to create a simple classic blueberry jam. But if you want to add a little interest to your jam, you can add basil, ginger, or lime. With this recipe, we are going to add lime juice and zest. I find this jam is great on toast or spread on goat cheese with crackers. It’s also great in oatmeal, on ice cream, on vanilla pudding… you get the idea.

All of that being said, if you don’t want to mix it up – just swap out the lime juice with lemon juice and eliminate the lime zest.

This is a small batch of jam and I cook it in a large sauté pan. This allows for more surface area on the jam, which helps it set up quickly. This means that your jam will taste more like fresh blueberries than cooked blueberries.

This is the beginning of the cooking process – the jam has not thickened and is a little foamy.

This blueberry jam relies on the natural pectin levels in blueberries for thickening the jam. If you have some slightly underripe blueberries, they will help with the set of the final jam as they have a higher pectin level that the full on totally blue blueberries. Because there is not added pectin in this recipe, you’ll want to check that the jam reaches 220 F to make sure it sets. You can also go by eye – it’s done when a spoon pulled along the bottom of the pan leaves a clear zone.

The jam has set and a spoon pulled along the bottom leaves a path on the bottom of the pan.

Because this is a small batch of jam – you can use any large stock pot to water process the jars of jam. You just need to make sure that the water depth in the pan is high enough to cover the tops of your jars by at least an inch. Place a trivet or a towel on the bottom of the pot so the jars aren’t directly on the heat source. You’ll also want to make sure that the jars have enough space in your pan so that they don’t touch and water can move around all sides of the jars.

Five jars fit nicely in a large stock pot and a sixth could fit into the center.

Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Blueberry Lime Jam

Recipe Type: preserving

Author: Andrea

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 20-24 oz

This blueberry jam relies on natural pectin for thickening – the lime brightens the blueberry taste and makes for an interesting, yet classic, jam. Without traditional pectin, this jam is lower in sugar and actually tastes of the blueberries.

Ingredients

4 cups blueberries, with some slightly underripe, if possible
1 cup sugar
2 T bottled lime juice
zest from one lime

Instructions

Prepare a boiling water bath and 3 half-pint (8 oz) jars or 6 4-oz jars. A boiling water bath can be done in any stock pot that allows for water to cover the jars by at least 1-inch.
Wash and prepare lids and rings, according to the package directions.
Combine the blueberries and a splash pf water in a large skillet. The skillet allows for more moisture loss over the surface, which reduces cooking time and maintains the fresh blueberry flavor. Stir and crush the berries over high or medium-high heat until they begin to break down.
Add the sugar, lemon juice and zest.
Stirring regularly, bring the fruit to a boil and cook until it bubbles and looks quite thick.
This will take about 10-12 minutes. It’s done when you pull a spatula through the jam and it doesn’t immediately run back into the cleared space. You can also check the temperature with a candy thermometer – it’s done when it hits 220 F.
When the jam is done cooking, remove the pot from heat and allow to rest 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Skim any foam off the surface. Ladle into the prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, remove air bubbles, if necessary, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
If you don’t want to process this recipe (or if you have a jar that doesn’t seal), you can jar the jams and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. It will also freeze well.

Spicy Yellow Tomato Jam

August 29, 2015 by andrea 7 Comments

I find that people often give me a second look when I talk about tomato jam. Not many people have heard of it, but it is definitely a jam worth the effort. I think of it as a grown up jam – I don’t share it with the kids – it’s too good for them. They won’t fully appreciate it, so I save the strawberry and raspberries for them. I’ve had more than a few people ask for the recipe, so here you go!

When picking your tomatoes, I recommend you find a nice flavorful heirloom variety from the farmer’s market or your own garden. Don’t even bother with the watery tasteless store bought imitations from the grocery store. My absolute favorite tomatoes to use are yellow and orange varieties. I find them fun to work with and they typically have a less acidic, more mellow, sweeter flavor.

The time it takes for this recipe will vary greatly depending on several factors – your tomatoes’ water content, the size of your simmering pot, whether it’s a full moon. Get the idea? Allow lots of time for this one. I’ve let some batches simmer for four or more hours until they got nice and thick like I wanted. Whatever you do, don’t try to double this recipe. You will be simmering forever. Trust me on this.

As far as ideas for using this jam – once you taste it, you’ll come up with endless ideas on your own. But here are some starters. Try it on cream cheese or goat cheese with crackers. It is wonderful with scrambled eggs – like a fancy katsup. It also makes a great sandwich spread with ham or turkey.

Okay! Now get simmering!

Spicy Yellow Tomato Jam

Author: Andrea

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 4 hours

Total time: 4 hours 15 mins

Serves: 4 pints

Ingredients

5 lbs tomatoes
3 cups sugar or 2 1/2 cups of honey
1/2 cup lime juice
1 T freshly grated ginger
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1 T salt
1-2 T red pepper flakes – adjust to your taste

Instructions

Core and finely chop the tomatoes. Save yourself some time and use the food processor. I don’t skin them or deseed them – if you chop the tomatoes fine enough you won’t notice the skins, plus they help thicken the jam.
Add all ingredients to a large stainless steel pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and keep a simmer. Simmer for 2-4 hours until the jam is thick. The jam should separate when you stir the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Fill hot pint or half pint jars with jam, allowing 1/4 inch head space.
Wipe jar rims and place hot lids on jars.
Process in a water bath canner with water at least one inch over tops of jars for 20 minutes.
Remove jars from canner and allow to cool completely (at least 12 hours) before checking seals.
Makes 2-4 pints (4-8 half pints) – depending on tomato type.