Recipes for jams, chutneys and preserves
Hi,
With an abundance of fruit and vegetables in the garden I have been experimenting with sugar free jam and chutneys. Here are some of the tips I have discovered, if anyone has any recommendations or questions to explore, please do share… 
As a sugar alternative I used Sweet Freedom (contains apple, grape and carob), but date syrup, maple syrup, agave, apple juice or honey could work just as well... Some fruits are sweet enough and don't require additional sweetner.
Some recipes suggest you add pectin to help it set, I’ve not felt to add the manufactured one, however the following fruit are rich in pectin - apples, blackcurrants, plums and gooseberries and could be used in combination with fruits that are lower in pectin. Lemon, especially the peel, is high in pectin and could also be used. The jam will become thicker as it cools, so you don’t need to cook it too much, you can cool a few drops of jam on a plate to test density.
I sterilized the jars by boiling them for 10 minutes, once you put the hot jam in you can put them in the oven at about 100 degrees for 10 minutes to help it keep for longer. I did recycle some jam pot lids, but for the jams I want to store for a longer period I used traditional cellophane jam pot covers to ensure an airtight seal. Apparently it’s best to put lids on when the jam is very hot or cool, as if they are warm the jam tends to go mouldy.
Enjoy! (I certainly did )
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Plum and carrot jam
Ingredients
5 kilograms plums (I used yellow ones that were growing in the garden)
1 kilogram carrots
2 lemons
Method
Wash and grate the carrots and lemons. Wash and remove stones from plums. Mix the fruits with food processor or hand blender (not for very long if you like bits in your jam) and pour the mixture in large saucepan.
Bring to the boil and then simmer on low heat to become thick as you desire, stir it regularly.
Pour hot mixed jam in warm sterilized jam jars and seal them.
Spicy redcurrant jam
Ingredients
1.5 kg redcurrants
4 or more apples
Up to 2/3 cup white vinegar/apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon of ground cloves
½ teaspoon (or more) of cinnamon
Natural sweetener such as sweet freedom
Water as/if necessary
Method
Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan, though you might want to save sweetener until end and add as required to personal taste.
Bring to the boil and simmer until the redcurrants are pulpy. I used hand blender at end to blend the apple skins.
Pour hot mixed jam in warm sterilized jam jars and seal them.
Blackberry jam
This one I'm looking forward to trying out when the blackberries come into season - yum!
Ingredients
2 ½ Kg of blackberries
2 lemons
500mls of apple juice
½ kg of sweet apples
200mls of water if/as required
Method
Wash your fruit thoroughly and remove any leafs or bits of stalk. Core and chop your apples (I prefer not to peel apples and instead use hand blender to break up skin). Place all the ingredients in large pan and bring to the boil and simmer for about three-quarters of an hour, scrapping off the scum from time to time. Stir regularly to prevent from sticking.
Pour hot mixed jam in warm sterilized jam jars and seal them.
Chutney
You can be pretty flexible with this recipe, it's just a rough guideline. You can use whatever you have available and to suit personal taste, I used plums and courgettes (zucchini) from the garden.
Ingredients
4 or so carrots
2 courgette/zucchini
1 or 2 small onions
2 apples
½ cup raisins or sultanas
2 cups of plums (or could use extra dried fruit such as apricots)
Small mug of apple cider vinegar
3 cloves of crushed garlic
Grated/ground ginger
¼ teaspoon mustard
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon coriander
Cornflour or arrowroot if needed to thicken
Salt or sweetner to taste
Method
Place all ingredients apart from cornflour into a large saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer until vegetables begin to soften.
Mix some cornflour and a little water in a bowl, add some hot juice from saucepan, mix and then add to chutney. More cornflour can be added until desired consistency is obtained.
Pour hot chutney in warm sterilized jam jars and seal them.
Busy in the kitchen!
Wow Fiona! You have been so busy making these much welcomed additions to the conscious kitchen. I love it! This is such an excellent way to make the most of local produce when in abundance. I especially like the idea of being able to preserve food like this and enjoy it months later when harvest time is long on.
I am really looking forward to sampling them all
Elder berries??
Hi Everyone in the know!! Ive been out foraging and I found a load of Elder berries which I bought home this morning, the only thing I can remember about them is there supposed to be good for making wine!! As a family friend used to make my parents some every year!!
So im having an experiment with them to see if I can make jam!! I didn't even weigh anything so my measures are going to be totally random!! I started with a carrier bag of elder berries on stalks and hours later I have berries in a pan boiling with a take out plastic box full of stewed cooking apples that I cooked last weekend and had frozen for future use!! We went scrumping ~ such good way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Im a little stuck as to what to sweeten it with?? Date syrup sound okay to anyone??
Anyway I will keep you posted on whether it works out!! Some help would be good though please??
Love Kerry
Elderberry jam
Hi Kerry,
Fantastic... sounds great! I'm far from an expert, but suspect date syrup would work well! I had a quick google for elderberry jam receipes and many of them appear to use lemons, I suspect that due to their high pectin content (especially the peel) they help the jam set, so you might want to add a couple of lemons too. Looking forward to hearing how you get on...
Happy making, Fiona
Re: Elderberry jam
Hey Kerry,
). But do let us know how you get on with the date syrup, it's worth a try.
I would use apple juice concentrate (available in health food stores
Trinity
x
More sweetening required
Around here I have to order date syrup!! I cant believe more people round here don't use it!! Health food shops few and far between anyway!! I think ive said before the woman who ordered it for me in Longton before didn't even know it existed!! And they are opposite end of city from me!! Aaaaaargh!!
I will have to get some more and let you all know how it is!! So far interesting taste!!
;o)
Sweeteners and sugar blood levels
More sweeteners:
Date syrup is great, but still has a relatively high glycemic index.
Organic,unheated and no sugar-added honey is another sweetener with high glycemic index.
I also use no-sugar-added jams - 100% fruits jam - like mirabella plums jam, blueberries jam, etc.
Another interesting way to 'sweeten' is using vanilla - it creates sort of illusion of sweet, and helps to use lower quantities of sweeteners.
Maple and agave syrups are sweeteners with low glycemic index.
I don't know how about where you live, but here we have also raspberries, apples, etc. low GI syrups (organic).
Sweet and blood:
I always use cinnamon or/and oat bran with high GI sweeteners, since they are lowering sugar levels in blood and prevent sugar level jumps and insulin burst-outs.
Also cherries, plums, oatmeal, buckwheat and green tea balance sugar levels and prevent diabetes.
Dates!!!!!
I found the answer was in my cupboards all along!! A mug of chopped dates did the trick!!!!!
I was feeling a bit like I shouldn't waste good ingredients after bad!! I tasted the concoction and it was really horrid!!
Now I am glad I decided to "sacrifice" a few of the dates I had in my cupboard!! Its now so lovely I prefer it to the strawberry jam my dad made earlier this summer!!!! Ive spent so long sieving it to get the pips out!! A sieve and a ladle in hand for ages!! But so worth it, I don't have to de~seed after ive eaten jam!!
And there's no waste as the sludgy pippy bit is now on the bird table for my lovely sparrows and great tits.