Freezer Jam – A Yummy Alternative to Canning Fruits!

Everyone at our house loves fruit jams, and its always inspiring to make your own jam or fruit preserves, so you can enjoy the fresh flavor of fruit long after the season is gone. But Canning can be a very intimidating process, especially if you are just starting out on making fruit preserves. But what if I told you that you can make your own jam with way less work and absolutely no hassle by using a new recipe? Hard to resist, right? Welcome to the world of Freezer Jam! [image courtesy of Foodblogga]

The idea spurred into my mind when I was making baby food for my toddler with fruits. As I was pouring her fresh fruit puree in ice-cube trays, i realized that if this can be done for babies, why can’t you do the same thing for adults? And of course, a little fling on the web gave me tonnes of recipes for making Freezer Jam. It is simple, easy enough, quick, and attains the goal of preserving the fresh fruity flavors you don’t want to miss once the summer season is gone!

Freezer Jam Recipe (Use any fruit You Like!)

Ingredients
Fills about 5 8-ounce freezer jars

2 pints of fresh fruit (strawberries, apricots, peaches, grapes, berries, etc)
sugar – as per instructions on the Pectin pkg
1 package of Ball No-Cook Jam Freezer Pectin
5 8-ounce freezer jars – washed and rinsed

Method
You may simmer or cook your fruit if you want; in most cases, it is not required. but if you want to add some more flavoring, like say some vanilla bean, maple syrup, maybe some orange juice, or rosewater, you can coarsely chop the fruit, bring it to a gentle simmer on low heat, and add your flavorings if you like.

Otherwise, just coarsely blend your fruit in a food processor – do not blend until smooth, you do want some texture to remain in your jam.

Mix the pectin with the sugar, as stated on the Freezer Pectin package instructions. Stir until the pectin is completely dissolved in the sugar.

Now add this to the fruit puree, and again mix well.

Clean your plastic freezer jars thoroughly, though you don’t need to heat them in boiling water like traditional glass canning jars. Just wash them and let them air-dry. Pour the jam into the plastic jars, leaving 3/4 inch of room at the top for the jam to expand, then seal them with the air-tight lids. Done, store your Freezer Jam for upto 6 months, so you don’t have to give up your fruit coming winter!

Some Key Notes
Uncooked fruit stays much fresher than cooked preserves, so freezer jam will indeed taste much better than traditionally cooked and canned jam. Try it for yourself and see!

For making jam, use fruit that is as ripe as possible. This will lend better flavor to your jam. Over ripe is also fine, as long as it has not gone bad.

Freezer jams will be a bit thinner when compared to canned ones, in terms of consistency. If you prefer thicker jam/jelly, boil your fruit a little, as I mention at the beginning of the recipe, then proceed with the freezing.

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Honey Plum Preserves
Spiced Cranberry Plum Sauce