Spring officially arrives this week, and with it comes the start of berry season here in Southern California. First to appear are red and delicious organic strawberries, followed by sweet-n-tangy raspberries, plump blueberries and one of my personal favorites – blackberries.
It’s no secret that we get a little excited about fresh berries around here. And rightly so! They’re not only absolutely delicious, but they’re chock full of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants too! That’s why they’re a favorite for enjoying in fruit salads and adding to grain-free granola, yogurt and desserts.
Of course, they also make amazing jams and preserves, which is why I’m sharing a simple method for making your own delightful honey sweetened fruit preserves using your favorite seasonal berries. A key part of this method is a little secret I learned from one of my favorite grain-free cookbooks.
The secret? Cranberries! By using a small amount of whole cranberries, you can avoid using powdered pectins to set your preserves. That’s because cranberries are high in natural pectin. So by including them in the recipe, your preserves will set-up nicely with just a little touch of fresh-squeezed lemon.
This easy recipe will enable you to make delicious berry preserves with less fuss and more all-natural flavor. Shown above (left to right): Blackberry Preserves, Strawberry Jam and Raspberry Preserves. Yum!
What to do with all that delicious homemade jam? Why not make these amazing jam-layered crumble cookie bars! Mmm, they are soooo gooood!
This special recipe at Deliciously Organic highlights the sweet fruity flavor of preserves sandwiched between two layers of scrumptious cookie crumble. Yes, please!
P.S. Just a friendly reminder, that I provide free monthly meal plans over at The Better Mom blog. Each week’s meal plan contains delicious family-friendly GF recipes utilizing a time-saving method to make getting a healthy dinner on the table a snap! I highly recommend you pop over to The Better Mom and download these free meal plans.
Ingredients
- 4 cups of your favorite fresh berries, such as raspberries, strawberries or blackberries (or use thawed frozen berries)
- 1 cup whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 to 1 1/4 cups pure honey (depending on how sweet you prefer your jam)
- 1 tbsp of fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 of a lemon)
Instructions
- Please Note: If making strawberry preserves, remove the stems and quarter the strawberries before measuring out 4 cups. For raspberry or blackberry jam, simply cut the berries in half before measuring. If making blueberry jam, no need to cut them.
- In a medium saucepan over medium/medium-high heat, bring the berries and honey to a boil while stirring. Then, reduce the temperature until the mixture remains at a constant simmer. Allow berries to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once you reach the 20-minute mark, use the back of a wooden spoon to mash the cranberries against the side of the saucepan. This helps to release all of their natural pectin.
- Maintain a gentle simmer, making sure to stir the mixture frequently, so it does not scorch. While stirring, use the "back-of-spoon" method to break up any large pieces of fruit into smaller pieces. Or if you prefer a less chunky jam, thoroughly mash all of the berries.
- After 10 minutes, if the mixture is somewhat thick and no longer runny, turn off the heat. It will thicken more as it cools. If it is not thick enough, continue cooking at a gentle simmer, while stirring constantly until it thickens a bit more, then turn off the heat. (Keep in mind, preserves are looser than jellies, so once the mixture is chilled, it will be thick, but not gelatin-like.)
- Pour the fresh-squeezed lemon juice over the warm preserves, stir well and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Evenly distribute the cooled preserves among four 8 oz. glass jars making sure to leave about an inch of space between the top of the jam and the jar lid to accommodate for expansion. Then, cover and refrigerate or freeze. (Or you can preserve the jam by following the classic hot water bath canning method.)
- Because homemade jam/preserves do not contain any preservatives, I recommend placing one jar in the fridge to enjoy now, and freeze the three remaining jars for future use.
Notes
Recipe Variation: You can also combine berries to create delicious flavor combinations, such as my popular Jumble Berry Jam recipe.
Will Cranberries Affect the Flavor of my Jam? Yes, slightly. Cranberries will add a slightly tangy undertone, that is actually very pleasant in balancing the sweetness of the honey. This slight tartness may be more noticeable with milder fruits like strawberries, depending on your taste preferences.
If you're not a fan of cranberries, there are several things you can do if you wish to avoid their slight tart undertone ... First, I've found frozen cranberries to be less tart in flavor. Second, you can decrease the amount of cranberries to 3/4 cups and increase the berries by 1/4 cup. The jam won’t be as thick, but with milder fruits, such as strawberries, the mild tartness will be less noticeable.
In addition, if you are able to tolerate pectin (some diets restrict it), then you could opt to bypass the cranberries altogether and use a little Pomona’s Pectin instead to help thicken your jam, as I did in my homemade Peach Preserves recipe, since peaches are an especially mild fruit.
Did You Know: The words "jam" and "preserves" are often used interchangeably. However, there is a slight difference between the two. The fruit in preserves is often cut into chunks and allowed to remain somewhat whole, whereas jam is made using crushed or mashed fruit, which gives it a less chunky texture. So for this recipe, you can mash the fruit thoroughly during the cooking process to create a classic-style jam, or you can leave much of the fruit intact to create traditional preserves. Either option is delicious!
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with parchment paper.
to evenly spread out the granola across the pan into a thin layer.
