Earlier this week, I shared about our trip to the Ballard Farmer’s Market in Seattle, and buying wonderful fresh raspberries and boysenberries. I look forward each year to creating new recipes and combinations of flavors. This year my focus is on reducing the sugar which is better for our health and allows the flavors of the fruit to be the star of the jar.
I am often asked where I find my inspiration for flavor combinations. I love to read cookbooks and
seasonal magazine with recipes to find ideas for possible flavor combinations which is where the initial idea for the lavender jam was found. More often, other foods and beverages serve as inspiration.
Herbal teas have great flavor combinations (with herbs and spices already in them) that can be adapted to jam which is where I got the idea for the “”zinger” jam. I have made these two many times but this is the first time I have made them low in sugar.
Raspberries, gently crushed with a potato masher to make 4 cups of fruit
8 to 10 stems of lavender with blossoms
2/3 cups unsweetened white grape juice
3 Tablespoons Ball Real Fruit Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin
1/2 cup sugar
Place the crushed berries in a bowl and push the lavender stems down into the fruit. Cover and allow to sit overnight so the lavender flavor can infuse into the berries. The next day, remove the lavender stems from the berries. Some of the blossoms will fall off into the fruit and that is okay.
Put infused fruit into a large pot with the white grape juice.
Stir in the pectin and blend thoroughly so there are no lumps.
Heat the mixture on high heat until it comes to a boil that cannot be stirred down.
Add the sugar, return to a boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat.
Fill jars, wipe lip of jar clean, and seal with lids and rings. Place in a water bath canner making sure jars are cover with at least one inch of water. Put lid on canner and bring water to a gentle boil. Process for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Use a jar lifter to carefully remove jars from canner, being sure to keep jars upright. Set them on a towel on the counter to cool and listen for the “pop” to indicate the jars have sealed.
Recipe yields about 4 half-pint jars plus a small amount extra for sampling.
Boysenberries, use a food mill to remove the seeds from the pulp to make 4 cups of fruit
3 “zinger” tea bags (Celestial Seasonings makes several flavors. For this recipe, I used Lemon Zinger.)
2/3 cups unsweetened white grape juice
3 Tablespoons Ball Real Fruit Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin
1/2 cup sugar
Place the berry pulp in a large pot with the white grape juice. Stir in the pectin and blend thoroughly so there are no lumps. Add the tea bags.
Heat the mixture on medium-high heat until it comes to a boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir carefully so you don’t tear the tea bags.
Add the sugar, return to a boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat.
Remove the tea bags from the jam.
Fill jars, wipe lip of jar clean, and seal with lids and rings. Place in a water bath canner making sure jars are cover with at least one inch of water. Put lid on canner and bring water to a gentle boil. Process for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Use a jar lifter to carefully remove jars from canner, being sure to keep jars upright. Set them on a towel on the counter to cool and listen for the “pop” to indicate the jars have sealed.
Recipe yields about 4 half-pint jars plus a small amount extra for sampling.
My motivation for using less sugar has to do with wanting to be more healthy as well as a
family history of diabetes. In today’s culture, most of us have at least one friend or family member
that is diabetic or pre-diabetic. Since I give away most of my jams as gifts, using less sugar makes them
more appealing to anyone that is health conscious. For comparison,
traditional jam usually has more sugar than fruit in it.
Of course, the real test of my success is taste and my hubby is my official taste tester.
He gave these jams his “stamp of approval.” He liked the low sugar jam better than the regular jam
which he often thinks is too sweet. Woohoo! I now I have my work cut out for me this summer
adapting my favorite recipes and creating more with less sugar.
I hope you will try my recipes and let me know how your jam turns out.
For me, creating healthier recipes for my family is one of the joys of homemaking. Sharing the products of my recipes is just one of the ways that I can share my heart for home.
