Partridgeberry Apple Jam or Cranberry Apple Jam - a 3 ingredient recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is cranberry jam made of? ›

Combine cranberries, white sugar, turbinado sugar, water, orange zest, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and pepper in a large pot over medium heat. Simmer, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and cranberries pop, 10 to 12 minutes. Blend cranberry jam into desired consistency using an immersion blender.

Apple Jam – The best apples for jam will encompass a variety of flavors. Try mixing sweet and tart varieties such as Pink Lady and Granny Smith. Apple Butter – Because the cooking process is slow, select apples with a softer flesh such as Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, and McIntosh.

You can skip the commercial stuff altogether and make your own pectin using a high-pectin fruit like apples to make a stock that can be used instead of commercial pectin. If you can, use crabapples, which have lots of natural pectin and are less sweet than other varieties.

Making Apple Jam starts in a similar way as making apple sauce. The difference here is that jam has a higher ratio of sugar. Beyond that, apple jam has a thicker consistency that can stand up on its own, allowing you to spread it without being runny.

Cooking any mixture of fruit and sugar long enough will result in a jam that will set up in your canning jars. But longer cooking times can mean over-processed flavor, darkened color and a lower yield. Adding pectin allows you to cook jam for a much shorter time, which may result in the jam of your dreams.

They are basically made the same way although cranberry jam is sweeter and may contain extras such as orange juice and spices. Some like to add extra spices such as cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Cranberry sauce is usually made with just sugar and water and is served with meat.

Add pectin.

Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam. Test for thickness and add another tablespoon if needed. Learn More About Pectin: What's the Deal with Pectin?

Homemade jam and jelly can last for a long time, depending on factors such as ingredients, storage conditions, and preparation methods. Typically, homemade jam will last around 6 to 12 months when unopened and stored properly. Once opened, it should be consumed within 1 to 3 months to ensure the best taste and quality.

Use cold 40 percent syrup (3¼ cups sugar to 5 cups water). To prevent browning, add ½ teaspoon (1,500 milligrams) of ascorbic acid to each quart of syrup. Slice apples directly into syrup in container starting with ½ cup of syrup in a pint container. Press fruit down in container and add enough syrup to cover.

TIPS: Alternatively, you could use 'high-pectin' sugar (also known as jam sugar). The addition of lemon juice also helps to activate the pectin and set your jam.

Can I use Jello instead of pectin? ›

Pectin Substitute

Cornstarch - Another plant-based thickening agent, cornstarch is a great substitute for pectin. Gelatin - For non-vegan menu items, you can substitute gelatin for pectin, but it will yield a different consistency.

The secret ingredient to making jam without pectin is time. The fruit and sugar need plenty of time to cook and thicken. A long, slow boil drives the moisture out of the fruit, helping to preserve and thicken it at the same time.

Apple jam is like apple butter in that it features apples cooked down over a long period of time. However, apple jam is thinner in consistency, lighter in color, and often includes bits of fruit, whereas apple butter is thicker, darker in color (thanks to caramelization) and blended until smooth.

Low pectin fruits include common berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries), pears and peaches. When making a fruit preserve using low pectin fruit, a high pectin fruit may need to be added in order to reach a proper gel (adding apples to a strawberry jam recipe for instance).

This homemade cranberry jelly is easy to make with only 3 ingredients (fresh cranberries, water, sugar) and is so much better than the canned stuff.

Cranberries are naturally rich in pectin, so they gel easily under the right conditions. The ingredient proportions and cooking time determine whether you end up with a sauce that's too runny, a sauce that's perfectly thickened, or a gel that's firm enough to cut with a knife.

Cranberries are primarily composed of carbs and fiber ( 1 ). These are mainly simple sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose ( 2 ). The rest is made up of insoluble fiber — such as pectin, cellulose, and hemicellulose — which pass through your gut almost intact. Cranberries also contain soluble fiber.

Health Benefits

Cranberries are also rich in vitamin C and fiber, as well as the metabolism-boosting mineral manganese. And yes, you reap all these benefits whether the cranberry sauce on your holiday table is homemade or canned, jellied or whole-berry.