Freezer Jam made with Plain Gelatin

My absolute favorite freezer jam is made with raspberries, rhubarb, and raspberry-flavored Jell-O.  It sounds like a crazy combination, but it tastes amazing.  I love the "set" of the jam, too- it's a soft, spreadable jam that's just perfect.

This year, we had lots of raspberries, but the rhubarb crop failed completely.  I searched for a plain-gelatin based jam for just raspberries, but found very little.

Here is why I like using gelatin in my freezer jams:

1)  Gelatin does not need sugar to gel- you can add sugar to taste.

2)  It is easily adaptable to how much fruit you have on hand.

3)  It is not dependent on certain temperatures to make a successful batch of jam.

Here is why you need to be careful when you use gelatin to set your jam:

1)  It can not be canned safely.  Don't try.  This MUST be a freezer jam.  Gelatin has protein in it, and must be kept frozen or refrigerated to be safe.

2)  If you keep the jam at room temperature, it will turn runny.  It's only firm when it's cold.

3)  This isn't vegetarian.  Nope.  See #1.

I wish I could remember the handful of links I used to cobble this recipe together, but I'm working from a scrap of paper I jotted my cooking notes on.  Use this as a starting point, and a reference for ratios- this recipe would work with any juicy fruit.  The basic equation is 1 cup of sugar and 2 packets plain gelatin per quart of mashed fruit (measure it after mashing to the texture you want the final jam to be.)  The sugar can be to taste. I actually had a bit of cantaloupe leftover from dinner the night before and chopped it up fine before adding it to the pot. See?  Versatile.

Raspberry Freezer Jam

5 quarts of raspberry mash

5 cups sugar

10 packets plain gelatin.

Bring it all to a boil, and boil one minute.  If your fruit isn't very juicy, let it sit in the pot with the sugar for a bit to macerate, and then add the gelatin before bringing to a boil.  Ladle into clean containers, leaving 3/4 inch headspace.  Freeze or refrigerate immediately.  

Aunt LoLo's Strawberry Lime Jam

I kind of made this up, based on some other recipes I saw out there. They all called for lemons, though...and I had limes. It turned out great! My daughter was eating the remnants out of the pan with a spoon.

Aunt LoLo's Strawberry-Lime Jam
2 lbs. strawberries, washed, hulled and cut

3 cups granulated sugar

The juice and zest of two small limes

Cook over medium heat until the berries are macerated, and the juice is starting to gel (about 220 degrees F.) Use a frozen saucer to test the thickness of the jam as it nears 220 F.

Pack into sterilized jars.

Process 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Makes 2 pints.

Orange Vanilla Marmalade

Alright, so I'm totally jumping off from Myrnie's Meyer Lemon Marmalade, but I thought this warranted its own post.




Why? Because my version uses two oranges, makes two quarts of marmalade, and was so dead simple...that's why!



Orange Vanilla Marmalade
Ingredients:
2 naval oranges, washed and sliced into 1/8ths (remove any seeds you find)
Water
Sugar

1) Put your oranges (yes, peel and all) into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (about pea sized chunks). This takes about 12 pulses.

2. Remove chopped oranges to a non-reactive (I used stainless steel) bowl and add enough water to cover them. Add just enough if you like a really chunky marmalade, or more water if you like to have more jelly in your marmalade.

3. Cover with a tea towel, and walk away. Don't come back for 8-24 hours. (Honestly, I left mine a night, and a day, and a night. Oops.)

4. When you do come back, put your orange/water mixture into a heavy-bottomed pot, one cup at a time. You need to measure how many cups of liquid you have so you can...

5. ...add 3/4 cups sugar per cup of liquid. (I added 1 cup of sugar per cup of liquid, and it turned out a bit too sweet.) You can also add a split vanilla bean at this point, or a healthy dollop of vanilla extract.

6. It's time to cook! Break out your candy thermometer if you have one. Stick a small saucer and a spoon in the freezer, too. Bring it all to a simmer - watch it carefully. High pectin fruits like oranges tend to foam up a lot at the beginning. Watch your candy thermometer - you want to cook your mixture until it reaches about 220 F. When it starts to get close, occasionally remove from heat and scoop out a little marmalade with your frozen spoon, onto your frozen plate - this will show you exactly how hard your finished product will be.

7. When your marmalade is as thick as you like it, you can pour it into your prepared jars.

I didn't want to can mine, so I just screwed the lids on and left them to cool on the counter before storing them in the fridge. These will store for about 2 months that way. (In the picture, you can see I had one full quarter jar. There are two other jars, each half full, as I wanted to give part of this endeavor to some friends of mine.)

Alternately, you can sterilize your jars, pour the marmalade in (leaving a headspace of 1/4") and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

My batch, with two good sized oranges made nearly two quarts of marmalade. Not bad for such a small investment! Next time, I'll find smaller jars, can them properly...and hand them out at Christmastime as gifts.

Rhubarb-Vanilla Bean Jam

Makes about 4 cups of jam.
Note: Make sure to buy the bright red stalks of local (not hothouse) rhubarb. For vanilla beans, we recommend the bulk aisle at PCC where they are under a dollar apiece.

2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed of all leaf bits and cut into 1/2” pieces
2 - 2 1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, split open and scraped

In a (non-aluminum) saucepan, cook the rhubarb over medium-high heat until it starts to release some juices. Add 2 cups of sugar along with the vanilla bean, both the skin and scraped seeds, and continue to cook. When the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook jam for about half an hour, stirring occasionally, until the all of the chunks of rhubarb have broken up and the mixture starts to thicken. At this point, taste the jam for sugar and add more if you like. To check the thickness, take a teaspoon of jam and put it on a plate in the freezer. Once it's cool, check and see if it’s the thickness you like. If not, continue to cook for several minutes and check again.

Jam will keep in the fridge for several weeks. Freeze any you’d like to keep longer. If you are canning-inclined, feel free to jar this jam as usual; it does start to turn a little bit brown over time, but the flavor remains.

Sounds delicious... no?

Via Seattlest