I know I have blogged about making raspberry jam before and you can still see the Sugar-Free Raspberry jam recipe. Sugar-free jams use a sugar alternative such as honey, xylitol or stevia and sometimes that’s just not what I want to do. Well today was one of those days. I wanted to make jam, had some frozen raspberries left over from the summer, but no stevia, honey or xylitol on hand. So I decided to go with a low-sugar version instead. It’s incredibly easy to make and still reduces your sugar intake, while allowing for a sweet treat.

As a side note, I quite often use frozen fruit in my jam making. I have an orchard and when the fruit comes in, it all seems to come in within a few weeks. I make lots of jam in those weeks, but I just can’t keep up, so I also freeze fruit in 1 kg packs for future use. Frozen fruit works wonderfully well in jams but I also use the fruit in my baking and to add to smoothies. If you have a glut of fruit and you do not have time to turn it all into jam, freezing it in 1 kg packs may be the answer for you as well.

If you are new to jam making and don’t have any of the equipment I talk about below, consider getting a kit from my website. The deluxe kit has the equipment and ingredients you will need to get started.

Here is my recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Kg Raspberries
• 400 grams sugar
• 2 teaspoons of Low Methyl-ester Pectin
• 2 teaspoons calcium water (see the pectin instructions or this video)
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Directions

• Prepare your 250 ml jars and lids by sterilising them in boiling water for ten minutes. The sterilisation step can be skipped and you can use washed, rinsed, hot jars if you are processing for 10 minutes or more in the boiling water bath at the end of the recipe.
• Rinse your raspberries then place them into your preserving pan and give them a mash with a potato masher to release some of the juice and natural pectin. I used frozen raspberries so I skipped this step as they has been washed before freezing.
• Place your pot on the heat and bring the raspberries to a boil. Cook them for a few minutes to release further juice.
• In the meantime, mix the Low Methyl-ester Pectin with 100 grams of your sugar.
• Slowly add your sugar-pectin mixture, stirring constantly to ensure that it is evenly distributed throughout your fruit.
• Add your remaining sugar and mix well
• Add your lemon juice and calcium water and mix well.
• Using high heat and stirring occasionally, bring your jam mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from the heat. 
• Using a ladle and jar funnel place your jam into your hot, 250 ml jars, leaving a one-and-a-half centimetre headspace. Clean the rims of the jar to ensure you get a good clean seal and cap with your new lids.

• Process your filled jars in a boiling water bath for five minutes.
• Alternatively, if you did not pre-sterilize your jars and lids, process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  

• Once the jars have been processed for the required time, remove them from the boiling water using a jar lifter to ensure you don’t scold yourself.
• Allow them to cool and then label them with the contents and date made.

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As always,

Live well