Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
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This tutorial is to my berry jam, but the process is the same, with this jam taking slightly longer due to more watery fruits.
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Jam can be used for many different recipes. It’s also perfect as a dessert filling or topping. I like to smother mine over some toast or create a pastry dessert with a jam filling. My children love using jam for peanut butter and jam sandwiches. The best part about jam is that it’s super easy to make. All you truly need is your fruit of choice and your favorite citrus. The added sugar is optional; your fruit is already sweetened with natural sugar.
With a lot of jam recipes, the ingredients involve an excessive amount of sugar. I find that to be a bit unnecessary, as fruit already contains plenty of sugar. With this recipe containing cucumber, which tends to be less sweet, I do add a bit of sugar. I supplement the sweetness with only a quarter of what most jams contain (I add 1/2 cup sugar to 4 cups of pureed grapes and cucumbers). If you or a loved one are diabetic, like many of my loved ones, or if you just want to cut out the sugar, simply leave it out. The grapes in this recipe are still plenty sweet. You can also substitute the serving of sugar with honey, stevia, or another natural sugar and/or honey substitute.
You can also switch up which fruits you put into your jam. Remember that most fruit changes in flavor during the cooking process. You will also encounter different cooking times with different fruits, especially when using fruits higher in water content. Anything with a higher water content will need to boil for twice as long as a denser fruit. You may find yourself wondering the purpose of the lemon juice in this recipe. No, it won’t make your jam sour or lemony.
Grapes and lemons, along with other fruits, contain small amounts of natural pectin. In a nutshell, pectin is the structural acid that helps the cell walls in fruit maintain their structure. Concentrated pectin is often sold in powder form and used as a gelling agent. I use lemon juice to create jams instead of pectin powder. Lemons contain more pectin than other citrus, and I love the way the taste doesn’t carry over to the jam. The consistency of the jam may resemble more of a sauce than a gel. It is easily spreadable, slightly gelled, and not runny. That’s all I care for in my jam. Best of all, each ingredient is fresh and natural. I make and eat this jam A LOT! As I have already mentioned, my favorite way to enjoy it is by smothering it over some toast or inside of a pastry.
If you find that you DO want to turn your jam more into a jellied texture, but don’t have pectin powder, you can add liquid cornstarch. To liquify cornstarch, add one part cornstarch to two parts of water, aka at a 1:2 ratio. Whisk in the liquid cornstarch while the jam is still hot or warm. If you don’t have fresh lemons, other citrus fruits will work. Consider adding apple, which has the most pectin. There really is no rule to making jams. There is no reason why you can’t have a tropical flavored jam. Again, keep in mind that fruit will change in flavor when it cooks. It’s not always best to go overboard and mix too many fruit varieties together. sometimes less is more.
Ingredients
- Grapes (around 3 cups) – any kind or color; I kept the theme of green
- Fresh lemon – enough to squeeze out 2 TBSP of lemon juice
- Chopped/Sliced cucumber (around 3 cups)
- 1/2 cup sugar or substitute
Instructions
I use an equal amount of sliced cucumber to grapes. Pureeing them via blender or food processor isn’t necessary, but it is my preferred method.
For a smoother turnout, I peel the skin from the cucumber and save it for a delicious salad. Peeling the grapes isn’t necessary; the skins are tender enough.
I puree enough fruit to fill four cups (you will use around 3 cups of grapes and 3 cups of sliced cucumber to make a 4-cup puree).
Add your fruit puree or whole fruit, lemon juice, and sugar into a medium to large pot or saucepan over a low-medium heat and stir well for a minute.
You’ll want it hot enough to gradually bring things to a boil, but not so hot that any fruit touching the pan will burn.
If you put whole fruit into the pot, you will be able to start mashing it within 5-10 minutes of being over the heat.
When your mashed or pureed fruit comes to a boil, stir it for a minute, then turn down the heat slightly. Keep it at a low boil. I recommend turning the heat down gradually, so that you don’t overdo it.
The goal is to keep a steady low boil so that the fruit touching the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn and stick from cooking too quickly and overcooking.
Allow your jam mixture to continue on a low boil for around 1 hour while stirring occasionally. Cook longer if you desire a less saucy texture. 60-80 minutes is great if you’re looking for a spread.
After you are finished boiling, allow the jam to cool down slightly and transfer it into a jar or sealable container.
Refrigerate your jam and come back to enjoy it or add it to a recipe, such as my Sweet, Savory and Spicy Grape Jam Meatballs recipe.
About This Recipe
The idea and inspiration for this recipe was simple. I want my children to enjoy their sandwiches and other jam-filled treats, but I want healthier ingredients. I want to be able to control the amount of sugar going into my children’s bodies as well. Although my children love cucumbers and know exactly how this jam is made, you would never know it was made with cucumbers unless you were told. The cucumber blends perfectly with green grapes and completely hides into darker grapes and berries.
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