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Cranberry jam for the winter is not only a tasty and healthy treat, but also a real cure for many ailments. And young patients, as well as adults, will not have to be persuaded to take it again.
What are the benefits of cranberry jam?
Both the cranberry itself and the jam made from it contain many different organic acids, which determine its specific sourish taste with a slight bitterness. These include the familiar malic and citric acids, and the more exotic benzoic and quinic acids. It contains a lot of vitamins, especially vitamin C, flavonoids, and pectin substances.
Eating cranberries, including in the form of jam, can help with many infectious diseases, since they have antimicrobial and bactericidal effects. Cranberry helps with various infections of the urinary system, especially cystitis.
In addition, it can slow down the development of atherosclerosis and lowers blood sugar levels. It gently cleanses the intestines and removes various toxins from the body.It can reduce the risk of caries.
And, of course, the role of cranberries in the prevention and treatment of all kinds of colds can hardly be overestimated.
Calorie content
Since berries in their pure form contain only 26 kcal per 100 g of product, they can also be used in a variety of diets, providing yourself with a comfortable weight loss program. After all, they contain no fat at all, and only 6.8 g of carbohydrates per 100 g.
Of course, the calorie content of cranberry jam is much higher - depending on the sugar content, it can be up to 200 kcal, but jam from this berry can be made even without sugar, which will definitely be appreciated by both diabetics and those who want to lose weight.
How to make cranberry jam
Cranberry jam can be made in several ways. But no matter what method is chosen for processing the berries, you must first sort them out, removing dried or damaged specimens. Since cranberries can more often be found in the wild, in swamps, than in gardens, the berries usually contain a large amount of natural debris (twigs, insects). They also need to be removed. Then the berries are thoroughly washed, changing the water several times.
Finally, all that remains is to sort the cranberries according to their degree of ripeness, if possible. After all, ripe cranberries are best for jam. It is best to freeze unripe berries or, as a last resort, make a fruit drink from them.
Fresh cranberries picked in the fall can be quite firm and contain some bitterness.
A simple recipe for cranberry jam
According to this recipe, jam for the winter is prepared in just one step, and although the berries are soaked in sugar syrup, the contrast between them and the syrup is preserved.
You will need a little:
- 1 kg cranberries;
- one and a half glasses of water;
- 1.5 kg granulated sugar.
Making cranberry jam for the winter using this recipe is not difficult:
- The berries are sorted, washed, and blanched in the usual way.
- At the same time, prepare sugar syrup by dissolving the required amount of sugar in boiling water.
- Immediately after blanching, the cranberries are poured into boiling sugar syrup and brought to a boil again.
- Reduce heat to low and cook until fully cooked.
- Readiness is determined in the standard way - a drop of syrup is placed on a cold saucer. If the drop retains its shape, then the jam is ready.
- During the cooking process, be sure to stir the contents and remove the foam from the workpiece.
- The hot jam is placed in sterile jars and sealed.
- After cooling, it can be stored in any place without access to sunlight.
Cranberry jam: an old recipe
According to this recipe, cranberry jam for the winter is prepared in several stages and the berries have time to be completely saturated with sugar syrup. Therefore, its taste can be called more intense.
The ingredients for cooking are completely identical to those listed in the previous recipe.
But it will take a little more time to prepare according to the recipe.
- The berries are prepared in the standard way.
- Dissolve half of the sugar in the recipe in the full volume of water, heat to 100°C and cook the syrup for another 5-8 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- The heat is turned off and the cranberries are poured into the hot syrup after blanching.
- Cover the berries in syrup with a lid and leave for 8-12 hours to soak.
- After the allotted time, the syrup with cranberries is again heated to a boil, the remaining sugar is dissolved and again set aside for 8-12 hours.
- The third time, cranberry jam is cooked until fully cooked. This usually takes a little time - about 20-30 minutes.
- The jam is cooled and only then put into dry, clean jars to be preserved for the winter.
- Store in a cool, dark place.
Frozen cranberry jam
No less tasty and healthy jam is prepared from frozen cranberries. After all, berries after freezing only improve their taste. It’s not for nothing that they say that cranberries should be picked only after snow has fallen.
The technology for making jam from frozen cranberries is practically no different from traditional jam from fresh berries. The big advantage is the fact that you can create this jam literally at any time, both winter and summer.
You just need to remove the cranberries from the freezer 6-8 hours in advance and leave them to defrost in a bowl or on a tray at room temperature.
To create additional flavor sensations for defrosted berries when making jam, you can add grated zest from one lemon and a pinch of vanilla per 1 kg of sugar.
Cranberry jam without cooking
Considering the good preservation of cranberries due to the presence of benzoic acid in the composition, delicious jam for the winter is often prepared from it, in which it is not subjected to heat treatment at all. Of course, this product turns out to be as useful as possible, but it can only be stored in the refrigerator.
Required:
- 1 kg granulated sugar;
- 1 kg cranberries.
And preparing this healthy product couldn’t be easier:
- The berries are washed and cleaned of contaminants in the standard manner.
- Mix half the volume of granulated sugar and all the cranberries.
- Thoroughly grind the berries with sugar until smooth.
- Leave for several hours at room temperature.
- Sterilize small glass containers with lids.
- Place cranberry puree with sugar in jars, not reaching 1-2 cm from the edges of the jars.
- Fill the jars to the top with the remaining sugar.
- Roll up and take out for storage in a cold place: cellar or refrigerator.
Cranberry jam with apples and nuts
A delicacy prepared according to this recipe for the winter will impress even lovers of all kinds of exotic preparations and can play the role of an exquisite cure for anemia, cardiovascular diseases and vitamin deficiency.
And its composition is very simple:
- ½ kg apples;
- ½ kg cranberries;
- 100 g peeled walnuts;
- 1 glass of honey.
Making the recipe is a little more complicated, but it won’t take too much time:
- Pour the washed cranberries into a glass of water and cook for 5 minutes after boiling.
- The berries are placed in a colander and, after cooling, crushed with a blender.
- Apples are cored with seeds and cut into small cubes.
- Walnuts are finely chopped with a knife.
- In a thick-bottomed saucepan, heat the honey until liquid, add pieces of apples and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add crushed cranberries, heat to a boil and cook for the same amount.
- Finally, add the nuts, cook for another 5 minutes and put the finished jam into small sterile jars.
- Store jam made according to this recipe, preferably in a cool place.
Cranberry jam “Pyatiminutka”
Using this method, you can prepare cranberry jam for the winter, although not in five minutes, but literally in half an hour, including all preparatory procedures.
You need to prepare:
- 1 kg sugar;
- 1 kg cranberries.
The recipe manufacturing process consists of the following steps:
- Sort and wash the berries.
- Grind them using a blender or food processor, add the required amount of sugar.
- Stir thoroughly and heat until boiling.
- Continue heating over low heat for about 5 minutes.
- Pour the jam into sterile containers and seal.
Cranberry jam in a slow cooker
Housewives increasingly prefer to use a multicooker to help prepare various products for the winter. And cranberry jam was no exception.
An interesting recipe for making cranberry and orange jam in a slow cooker will be interesting. For this you will need:
- 1 kg cranberries;
- 0.5 kg of oranges;
- 1.25 kg sugar.
The manufacturing process is not that complicated:
- Wash the cranberries and oranges, scald the oranges with boiling water.
- Cut the oranges into slices and remove all the seeds. Grind the rest together with the peel using a meat grinder or blender.
- Make cranberries into puree in the same way.
- Combine orange and cranberry puree in a multicooker bowl, add sugar to them and leave for half an hour.
- Stir, close the lid and turn on the “steaming” mode for 15 minutes.Attention! If there is no such program, use the “Extinguishing” mode for 20 minutes.
- Place the prepared jam into pre-sterilized jars, roll up and leave to cool under a blanket.
Cranberry jam without sugar
Sugar-free cranberry jam for the winter is often made with the addition of honey.In this case, add 1 glass of honey and a little cinnamon or cloves to taste for 1 kg of cranberries.
But you can make cranberry jam for the winter without any additives at all, from cranberries alone. In this case, its benefits for diabetics and those wishing to lose weight can hardly be overestimated.
The cooking process consists of the following steps.
- The berries are peeled, washed, dried on a paper napkin.
- Fill sterilized jars with them, cover with lids and place on a stand in a wide saucepan half filled with water.
- The pan is put on fire.
- Gradually, the cranberries will begin to produce juice and the level of filling of the jars will decrease. Then you need to add berries to the jars.
- Repeat filling the jars with berries until the juice level reaches the very neck.
- Then sterilize the jars of berries for another 15 minutes and roll up.
Conclusion
Cranberry jam for the winter according to any of the recipes described above will be very tasty and healthy. But it should be borne in mind that cranberries without heat treatment have a certain peculiar taste. Therefore, you should try several options and choose the most suitable one for yourself.
