Sandy's Florida Cranberry Jam

Check out this AMAZING Florida Cranberry Jam recipe with step-by-step photographs by Florida Cranberry Alliance Member, Sandy Troy.

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RECIPE:

1. Use a tall sided sauce pan. Roselle will boil/froth.

2. Prepare the fruit for jam making first soak it for a few minutes in a sink full of cold water and then drain. Soaking is to remove any ants, dirt etc.

3. Separate the red calyx (the fleshy red cover surrounding the seedpod) from the seedpod. An ideal way to do this is using a strawberry corer (photo). It has a button on the end to push out the seed. You can also try an apple corer. Push hard against the base of the calyx; the calyx will then separate from the seedpod.

4. Put the red calyx into a bowl and the seedpods into a saucepan.

5. Cover the seedpods with water and simmer for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent in appearance.

6. Strain the seedpods through a sieve and dispose of the seedpods, reserving the liquid. This process extracts pectin from the seedpods to help the jam set.

7. Pour the liquid back into a large saucepan, add the red calyx and simmer gently until they are very soft.

8. Measure this fruit pulp and add cup for cup of sugar to fruit.

9. Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and then bring to a boil. The jam will froth high in the saucepan and so needs to be no more than half full before you start it boiling.

10. Test for setting by putting an empty saucer in the freezer to chill, then put a teaspoonful of jam on the saucer, wait for it to cool slightly and then push the top of it with your finger. If it crinkles it is cooked. Another sign that it is setting to watch for is when the jam stops frothing and settles down to a hard boil.

11. As the jam reaches setting point it is also most likely to stick and burn so pay close attention and stir often. Remember that the setting of a jam is a chemical reaction between the fruit acid, the sugar and the pectin, not an evaporative process. Jams set as they cool, if over-cooked the setting point may be passed and instead a thick syrup rather than a gel is formed.

12. Bottle the jam into clean hot jars* and seal immediately. Or freeze in small clean plastic containers.