Homemade Christmas Jam

Homemade Christmas Jam

This Christmas Jam is a delicious, sweet-tart blend of cranberries, strawberries, oranges, and seasonal spices that are sure to please your palate. Perfect for canning up and giving away as a thoughtful, homemade gift this season! 

And, after several trials and errors, I think I’ve finally found the one. The best, most simple blend of Christmas flavors anyone could ask for.

This jam is super easy. And that’s saying a lot coming from someone who isn’t all that great at making jam (I just haven’t had enough practice, yet). It’s also incredibly delicious and even better than that jam I purchased from the farmer’s market years ago.

Since this jam cans up so well, it will keep for a long while and is a fantastic homemade Christmas gift idea. The longer it sits, the better it tastes, so there’s no harm in making it up in October and giving it away in December.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a fan of practical, thoughtful gifts for Christmas. Sure, you can buy anyone something, but nothing quite says “I was really thinking of you and I love you” like a homemade gift

Tips for Making The Perfect Christmas Jam

• You can omit the pectin in this recipe. I use the pectin when I make mine, but it isn’t completely necessary. Cranberries and orange peels are naturally high in pectin. If you omit it, it will simply take a tad longer to reach gel stage.
• You can substitute honey for the sugar in this recipe. If you do, you’ll want to use a little less and either omit the pectin or use low sugar pectin in its place. It will change the flavor slightly, but it’s not super noticeable, in my opinion.
• If your Christmas Jam hasn’t gelled, it simply needs to cook longer.
• A simple way to check for gelling is to place a clean, dry, cool spoon into your syrup. Pull it out and when the jam starts dripping off in sheets (two drops at a time forming a sort of “sheet”) it is gelled and ready for canning.
• If you overcook it (i.e. it’s too thick), you can bring some port or apple juice to a boil and slowly add it to the jam until it’s the consistency you want.
• If you undercook the jam (it’s runny after you open up a jar), you can fix it! Simply combine the canned jam (a jar or two at a time) with 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of juice or port wine, ½ Tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of powdered pectin per half pint of jam and bringing it to a hard boil and allowing it to hard boil for 1 minute. Then, remove it from the heat, test for the gel stage and jar it up and process it like you did before.
• You can safely store it for up to 1 year on the shelf as long as it is properly sealed.

Ingredients

12 oz cranberries (fresh, or thawed if frozen)

1 orange, peeled and sectioned

2 teaspoons orange zest (from the peel)

16 oz strawberries (fresh, or thawed if frozen)

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

4 cups sugar (pure cane recommended)

1 package fruit pectin (1–1.75 oz)

½ cup water

Instructions

1. Prepare the jars and lids:
2. Wash jars, lids, and rings thoroughly.
3. Fill jars two-thirds full with water and place them in a water-bath canner. Add enough water to cover.
4. Heat over medium-high to sterilize while you make the jam.
5. Place lids in a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Keep simmering until ready to use.
6. Set rings aside (they don’t need sterilizing).
7. Prepare the fruit:
8. Place cranberries and the sectioned orange in a blender and pulse until coarsely chopped.
9. Add strawberries, orange zest, and spices. Stir slightly to combine, then blend again until finely chopped (do not puree).
10. Cook the jam:
11. Transfer the fruit mixture to a 5-quart stockpot. Stir in the water.
12. Add fruit pectin and ½ teaspoon butter (to reduce foaming).
13. Bring mixture to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
14. Add sugar and return to a full rolling boil. Boil for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.
15. Remove from heat and skim off any foam with a metal spoon.
16. Fill the jars:
17. Immediately ladle hot jam into prepared jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace.
18. Wipe rims and threads clean. Place lids on jars and secure rings until fingertip tight.
19. Process in canner:
20. Place jars back in the canner and add enough water to cover them by 2 inches.
21. Cover, bring to a boil, and process for 10 minutes.
22. Turn off heat, uncover, and let jars sit for 5 minutes.
23. Cool and store:
24. Remove jars to a towel-lined counter. Leave undisturbed for 24 hours.
25. Check seals the next day.
26. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within 2 weeks.