Homemade jam

[jaa7]

Hi
I have tons of raspberries in my allotment and I thought I would have a go at making jam, but the recipes quote lbs of sugar. On the diabetes UK website it does say that this is ok as you only eat a small bit at a time, but seeing so much sugar going into the pan makes me so apprehensive. Has anyone any thoughts - can you make jam with candural or something similar - any advice appreciated. thanks

 

[AlisonM]

You could use a sweetener instead of sugar, or you might use raw cane sugar instead of refined. I've never tried doing it with sweeteners myself, I use the raw cane sugar option, adding a slice of apple for the pectin to make it set.

 

[jaa7]

Thanks for this. Never seen raw cane sugar, can you get it in the big supermarkets? and is it the same quantities as normal sugar?

 

[Copepod]

Jaa - we also have lots of raspberries (and strawberies) from our garden, but eat so little jam that we very rarely make any. It is best to use real sugar, of any type, rather than sweetener, to get the right texture. As Diabetes UK rightly says, small portions of real jam are best 🙂 Low sugar jams usually have to be kept in the fridge, sometimes before opening, but always after opening.

However, we do freeze some - lay them on a tray in freezer until they are solid, then transfer to a plastic box, rather than freezing direct in a box, which results in a block of splodged berries. Then, remove a handful as required for smoothies etc.

 

[AlisonM]

Thanks for this. Never seen raw cane sugar, can you get it in the big supermarkets? and is it the same quantities as normal sugar?

Yes, you would use the same quantities - the only real difference is the colour, raw cane sugar is pale brown instead of white. I've seen it in some of the larger stores, but usually get mine from a local health food shop.

Ref: what Copepod says about freezing soft fruit. I often do that too, but use icecube trays. I place an individual fruit in each section and freeze them that way then box/bag them up, but as long as they're not touching when frozen it should work fine.

 

[jaa7]

Thanks for the tips. I did freeze some but didn't think about doing them separately, so I will have a solid block to use! My strawberry crop has been almost nil this year, not sure if it was that dry spell earlier, but they were watered every night. I do have some flowers on now, so maybe the recent rain has helped. Redcurrants and gooseberries doing well though.

 

[trophywench]

I wouldn't have thought you needed to add pectin to rasp jam, I've never seen anyone have trouble setting it? but certainly for strawb. But if you happen to have ripe elderberries at the same time I have heard you can lob a handful of them in with strawbs and they do the trick. Never tried it though!