low sugar Archives - My Kitchen Clatter

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.

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.