Perfectly fruity and spicy, Christmas Jam is great for holiday gift giving. It's a simple and delicious treat, great served over cream cheese on crackers, or spread on toast, English muffins or scones.
Sweet strawberries, cranberries, sugar and holiday spices join together to make this a delicious jam. It's unique and flavorful and one of the most popular jams I make at the holidays.
RECIPE
Ingredients
4 cups sliced strawberries (I used fresh strawberries I previously froze)
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 tsp. butter (to prevent foaming)
1 tbls. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 box Sure Jell (powdered pectin)
8 cups sugar
Method
Place a large stock pot on a burner and add the butter, strawberries, cranberries, all spices and Sure Jell.
Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring to prevent sticking.
Add sugar all at once and return to a rolling boil (one that doesn't stop while stirring), stirring constantly. Boil hard 1 minute.
Remove stock pot from heat and lightly mash berries if you want the jam less chunky. Ladle jam into canning jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Cover jars with lids and bands and tighten just until finger tight.
Process jars 10 minutes in a boiling water bath or steam canner. Let sit on your kitchen counter-top undisturbed for 24 hours. Store in pantry up to one year. Open jars must be refrigerated.
Yield: 10 - 8 oz. jelly jars
My friend at Brynwood Needlworks wrote a nice post about this jam. Be sure to check it out here
Enjoy,
Mary
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OMG, 7 cups of sugar that's crazy unhealthy in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteits jelly!!!
DeleteIn jam making it’s the sugar which preserves the jam so it lasts longer without going mouldy.
DeleteIt’s jam and that’s very normal. If you prefer a low sugar fruit spread you’ll have to modify the recipe and use a low-sugar pectin.
DeleteRenee that's right!
DeleteWhat size bag of cranberries?
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ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to trying this!!
ReplyDeleteI made this with Sure-jell light and half of the sugar! I got 16 four ounce jars! Yum!
ReplyDeletehmm
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ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful jam, perfect for the holidays and gifting. I love the combination of the strawberries and cranberries!
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie!
DeleteChristmas in a jar! So festive.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ann
DeleteSounds lovely. I will try it for sure ❤
ReplyDeleteThanks Paddy!
DeleteI dont have pectin. Can I substitute it with something?
ReplyDeleteDebi Hart, if you don't have pectin all you need to do is cook it to the gelling stage, which is 220 (as you would when making marmalade). Cranberries have a large amount of natural pectin so that should work just fine.
DeleteWill this jel if I cut back on the sugar?
DeleteYou can use the pink Sure Jell and cut the sugar in half, yes. Otherwise the sugar must stay as written - it is always 2 cups more sugar than fruit, in this instance 6 cups fruit to 8 cups sugar
DeleteWas wondering if one could use apples instead of strawberries?
ReplyDeleteYou could but you'd be changing the flavor profile completely.
DeleteWould monk fruit work with this recipe?
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all. I tried using some for another jam this summer and it completely crystalized and hardened the jam. I actually contacted the manufacturer and they replied their product is not suitable for use in canning. I now use Splenda for sugar-free jams and that turns out very well.
DeleteWonderful jam recipe. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 24 half pints. We gobbled up one jar the next day.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! So happy you enjoyed it.
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