Quick & Easy Raspberry Jam
Last week I stumbled across £11 worth of raspberries for 11 pence so today I’m bringing you Quick & Easy Raspberry Jam which as usual uses no commercial pectin or jam sugar just lemon juice (which is high in pectin). I prefer to keep my jams as natural as possible with a soft set so always use lemon juice to aid the setting and I think it probably gives jams a more vibrant flavour and colour.
As my raspberries were a day past their sell by date (by the time I used them) I not only needed to rinse them but needed to bathe them in a large salad spinner full of water to help me pick out the bad ones. There were 100 g of iffy raspberries which left me with 800g.
It’s usually best to make jam with ‘just ripe’ fruit as the pectin levels are higher but at this price I wasn’t going to be fussy, plus raspberries don’t contain much pectin to start with. So given the age and wetness of my raspberries (even after spinning) I think my jam took longer than usual to get to setting point. Hence I have advised testing from 7 minutes in the recipe to take this into account.
My whole family were blown away by my Quick & Easy Raspberry Jam, it’s seriously good. If you compare it to shop bought jam, well, there is no comparison! If you’ve never made jam before then you really need to change this state of affairs to start enjoying jam at its best! Previously I made Seedless Raspberry Jam as a treat for hubby but even though he doesn’t like seeds he was soon tucking into this jam with a scone and thoroughly enjoying it!
Here are some more raspberry jams:
Easy Seedless Raspberry Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Raspberry & Blackcurrant Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Blackberry & Raspberry Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Strawberry, Raspberry & Redcurrant Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Tutti Frutti Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Morello Cherry & Raspberry Jam – The Veg Space
Blackberry & Raspberry Jam – Chez Maximka
Why not pin for later?
Quick & Easy Raspberry Jam - no pectin
Ingredients
- 800 g raspberries rinsed and dried
- 700 g granulated sugar
- 5 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Put the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice into a preserving pan or similar.
- Place pan over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar crystals have dissolved. You can usually tell by running a wooden spoon over the bottom of the pan.
- Bring the pan to a rolling boil and time for 7 minutes.
- Take pan off the heat and place a few drops of jam onto a chilled saucer.
- Place saucer in fridge for about a minute.
- Test the set by running your finger through the jam, if it forms a crinkle and is jel like then the jam is ready to pot up.
- If the jam isn’t ready continue boiling for another 2 minutes at a time and re-test until ready (mine took 9 minutes).
- Use a small ladle to pot up the jam in sterilised jars and seal with lids immediately – makes 2 jars (900 mls in total).
- Store in a cool dark place and refrigerate once opened.
Recipe Notes
Put 2 - 3 saucers in the freezer before you start.
Sterilise 2 x 450 ml jars by washing in hot soapy water (or take straight from dishwasher), fill with boiling water, empty and then place in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C where you leave them until the jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain.
Smells lovely when cooking.brings back childhood memories of when I used to cook with my mum. We used to go out and pick the wild berries.
Was wondering if you could help Im not sure on how long homemade jam last for.
Thanks
So glad you enjoyed making my Raspberry Jam and the memories it brought back. Homemade jam is best eaten within a year but kept in a cool dark place it will in fact keep for years. I think you’ll find it’s been eaten long before this though:-)
Me, my son and daughter went out raspberry picking today and decided to make some jam with them. Being an absolute amateur jam maker i turned to google for a recipe and came across this one. Quick and easy and absolutely fab in all aspects! Thank you so much for sharing it.
Aaw, thank you, I’m so glad you found my recipe and that it was a success:-) Do come back and try some more of my jam recipes:-)
Absolutely delicious, Thank you.
So glad you like it:-)
Raspberry jam was always one of my favorites growing up, and I am with you on using lemon (my mum and I never used pectin)
Thanks Caroline, yes I like to keep things as natural as possible and prefer the soft set I can achieve which jam sugar doesn’t.
This looks so delicious! Bookmarked, definitely want to try this 🙂
Great Ro:-)
Waste not, want not. Love how you pick up these massive bargains. If only my local Tesco marked items down by so much. No joy.
Thanks, yes I’m very fortunate:-)
Every time I see this I just think how glorious it looks. You truly are the queen of jams Camilla.
Aaw, thank you Jacs-)
I love making jam with fruit gluts, and getting so many raspberries for just 11p is definitely a fabulous glut!
Yes, love my bargain fruit:-)
This was the first jam my mum taught me how to make, I absolutely love it!!!! I love how vibrant the colour is.
Fabulous Katie, jam is one thing my mum never made! No wonder it took me so long to start making it:-)
How do you store this and fir how long will it last unopened? I’m trying it!!!!!!
Hi Cher, jam is best kept in a cool dark place, so a kitchen cupboard is fine and the jam will last a year or longer (it’s been known to keep for years) but it’s so good I don’t think keeping it will be an issue. Once opened and kept in fridge it should be good for at least a couple of months but again, I don’t think that will be an issue:-)