Friday 14 December 2012

Cranberry Jam

I've never made cranberry sauce or cranberry jam or cranberry jelly before, but I decided to make home-made Christmas hampers for my friends and family this year and thought that some sort of cranberry preserve deserved to be included. I'm calling it a cranberry jam, as it has a thick, jam-like consistency.



I used the recipe on the punnet of cranberry, with the addition of a couple of tangerines to make it even more Christmassy!

Ingredients:
2 tangerines
100 ml water
100g sugar with added pectin
350g fresh cranberries

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes 2 medium (200gish) jars

  1. Grate the zest of the tangerines into a saucepan, and then squeeze in the juice. Add the water and the sugar and turn on the heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Add the cranberries to the pan and allow the jam to simmer for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the jam from catching on the bottom. 
  3. Meanwhile, sterilise the jars and lids by washing them in warm soapy water, rinsing in hot water and then baking on a low heat until completely dry.
  4. After 30 minutes, the jam should have reduced to a nice, thick mixture. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
  5. Carefully remove the jars from the oven, and spoon the cranberry jam into them - it's really important to be careful here as both the jar and the jam will be very, very hot! Place the lids on the jars and leave to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge.
  6. Keep refrigerated and consume within 6 weeks.



Happy Thoughts
x

2 comments:

  1. I make this every year! It is the easiest jam/sauce to make as cranberries are naturally high in pectin so it is alwasy a winner :D It looks lovely x

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    1. Thanks Sarah - this was a first time for me, but it was very easy indeed :-) my "new thing" to try in 2012 was jam-making, so it seemed like a good idea to whip up a batch of cranberry jam, since it is the season and all! I'm actually currently baking a cake I plan to fill with this cranberry jam and some whipped cream - can't wait!

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