Raspberry Anise Freezer Jam

There are quite a few different freezer jam recipes out there, some that have the usual jam proportions (i.e., way more sugar than fruit, Certo's freezer jam recipe for example). I prefer the following recipe because it doesn't use so much sugar, and ends up being super tasty no matter what fruit I use.

The Basic Freezer Jam Recipe Proportions are

-4 cups of crushed fruit

-1 to 1.5 cups of sugar

-1 pouch of Bernardin Freezer Jam Pectin

-Lemon/Lime juice and zest

Fortunately, I had four cups of raspberries fall into my lap, so - Raspberry Anise Freezer Jam! I added a teaspoon of anise to the raspberries, and three crushed pink peppercorns, but you could add any herb or spice you think pairs well with whatever 4 cups of fruit you're working with.

Strawberry Lime Freezer Jam

For some, making homemade jam can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.

Probably the easiest way to make jam is to make a freezer jam (I like to call it Lazy [wo]man’s Jam) otherwise known as ‘raw food jam’. This type of jam involves crushing fruit and mixing it with sugar and pectin (or just the fruit and pectin if you buy the "no sugar pectin"). From there, you put it into containers and into your freezer for up to one year, or in your fridge for about a month.

This is a convenient way to have ‘fresh’ fruit during the dreary winter months.

Freezer jams have less sugar than regular cooked jams, so don’t expect that crazy sweet jam taste, but you get FULL fruit flavour, and because the fruit is not cooked/boiled it probably keeps more of its good stuff, i.e., vitamins, etc…

So here’s my Strawberry Lime Freezer Jam Recipe (i LoVe it!)

Ingredients: 

-4 cups of crushed strawberries

-1.5 cups of white sugar

-1 45g pouch of Bernardin's Freezer Jam Pectin

-lime zest and lime juice

-Rinse your fresh, ripe, local strawberry

-Hull the strawberries

-In a bowl mix the sugar and pectin

-In a separate bowl crush your strawberries

          -Add a teaspoon of lime zest and squeeze the juice of 1/2 of the lime (or the whole lime if you're big on lime!)

-Pour the crushed strawberries and lime mixture into the bowl containing the sugar and pectin.

-Stir well for 3 minutes

-Ladle the jam into containers being sure to leave around 1cm of headspace (the space between the top of the jam and the top of the container). Put into the fridge (up to one month) or in the freezer (up to a year).  

You can use this as you would a regular jam, on bread/toast, in yogurt, on your ice cream, etc...

You could also add any other herb or flavour you think pairs well with strawberries, maybe some chopped mint, or perhaps lemon instead of lime - as long as the fruit to sugar to pectin ratios are correct (follow this recipe or whatever is on your pectin package). Check out www.relishyomama.org or Bernardin.ca for more jam recipes.