This delicious Holiday Jam is packed with classic seasonal flavors and is perfect for all of your Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations! This jam recipe does not require any added pectic and is safe for water bath canning making it a fantastic gift for your friends and family.
This Holiday Jam is one of my favorite preserve recipes and I look forward to making it every season! Packed with cranberries, apples, pears, oranges, ginger and other seasonal flavors and ingredients, it truly is the holiday season in a jar.
This recipe is safe for water bath canning and makes a fantastic Christmas gift for friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. But be prepared, if you give them out once there are sure to be requests every year!
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WHAT IS WATER BATH CANNING?
Canning is simply the process of applying adequate heat to high acid food that is sealed in jars for the allotted time necessary to kill off bacteria and micro-organisms that cause food spoilage. During heating, oxygen is driven out of the jars, causing a vacuum seal to form when the jars cool down. This prevents any outside micro-organisms and oxygen from getting back into the food. When done correctly, canning preserves food safely for at least a year, although probably much, much longer.
SAFE CANNING RESOURCES
If you are new to canning you can find great resources, recipes and tutorials at Ball Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
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Equipment
For the Holiday Jam:
- Large pot: Be sure to use a very large pot for this recipe as the jam tends to bubble and foam quite a bit.
- Grater: I love this Oxo zester and grater and use it all the time.
- Citrus juicer (optional): You can totally just squeeze the juice by hand, making sure to catch all the seeds so that they don't get in the cranberry sauce. But I love using this Oxo Good Grips Citrus Squeezer because it just makes life easier.
For Water Bath Canning:
- Mason jars: Make sure the jars are clean and that the lids are brand new. You cannot reuse canning lids.
- Large pot with rack OR Electric Canner: If you only can once in a while using a large pot with a canning rack works just fine. As someone who personally does a lot of canning and I absolutely LOVE my Ball FreshTech Electric Canner.
- Jar lifter: You will need a jar lifter to remove the hot jars from the water bath.
- Funnel: I personally love this canning funnel because it also allows you to measure the headspace easily.
- Ladle: This Prepworks Canning Scoop is my favorite.
Ingredients
- Fresh cranberries: Frozen cranberries will also work.
- Apples: I recommend Granny Smith Apples but your favorite variety will work.
- Pears
- Clementines: Can substitute with oranges. Instead of cutting the whole fruit you'll want to use a peeler to take off the zest and finely slice. Then peel the white pith away from the orange, remove the seeds and add the orange to the pot.
- Lemons
- Limes
- Apple Juice: I recommend using 100% organic apple juice or cider.
- Fresh ginger: Ginger paste will also work.
- Cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Sugar
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Made this Holiday Jam recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Recipe
Holiday Jam
Equipment
- Large pot
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Immersion Blender
- Water bath canning equipment: Large pot or electric canner with rack; mason jars and new lids; funnel; dish towels; jar lifter
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh cranberries
- 4 medium pears
- 5 apples I recommend Granny Smith.
- 4 clementines Can substitute with 2 oranges. See the note above in the ingredients section.
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 cup 100% organic apple juice
- 5 cups sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutumeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Prepare water bath canning materials (optional):
- Prepare a boiling water bath and mason jars.Place fresh lids in a pan of simmering water until ready to use.
Make the Holiday Jam :
- Measure out cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves and set aside.
- Prepare your fruit by washing the cranberries, peeling and the dicing the pears and apples and finely slicing the clementines, then add to a large pot. Place the pot on the stove over low heat then add the zest and juice of 1 lemon, the zest and juice of 1 lime, freshly grated ginger, 1 cup of apple juice and 5 cups of sugar. Stir to to combine then turn the heat up to high and cook, stirring frequently, for around 12-15 minutes or until the fruit is soft and tender.
- Remove the pot from the burner and use an immersion blender to puree the jam until it is smooth.
- Then add the hot pot back to the burner and add the ground spice mixture and a pinch of salt.
- Cook over medium high heat for an additional 5-7 minutes, bringing the jam to a boil as it thickens. Stir constantly to ensure the jam does not scorch. Then remove from the heat and either store in the fridge or process in a water bath.
To store in the fridge:
- Ladle the Holiday Jam into jars or another airtight container and store in the fridge for 10-14 days.
To process in a water bath canner:
- Ladle the Holiday Jam into jars (about 10 half pints) leaving about ¼th to ?rd inch of headspace.Remove air bubbles and wipe the jar rims. Place on new, clean lids and bands and process in a water bath for 10 minutes (adjusting time for altitude).Turn off the heat and allow the jars to rest in the warm water for 5 minutes before removing and placing on a towel on the counter (do not place directly on the counter).Allow the jars to cool undisturbed for about 24 hours until all the lids have sealed.Store sealed jars in a cool dry place for 12-18 months for best quality.*Note* If any of the jars do not seal simply store in the refrigerator and consume within 10-14 days.
Such a beautiful and packed with flavour jam. I never thought of adding pears. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
This was a different, yet delicious, version of the jam I usually make. It had the perfect winter/Christmas spice to it and tasted great on morning toast and bagels.
This is AMAZING and the pears especially are such a delicious addition. Can't wait to make this again!
I love making homemade jam, and I can't wait to make this recipe! I love all of the ingredients, what a great combination!
This holiday jam is literally Christmas in a jar!
The flavor is definitely holiday-ish, but the texture is grainy. I should have known when I saw pears as an ingredient. This recipe yields more of a butter or spread, but it is definitely not jam. I won’t make again.