Home-made cranberry fig jam from fresh fruits
I was actually never a fan of jams for them being overly sweet. And I used to (mistakenly) think of jam-making as a time-consuming process. Only until recently, I’ve discovered a super easy and healthy way to make jams from fresh fruits, without overloading them with sugar or any additives. This season, cranberry jam has become my favourite!
Homemade jam is NOT as daunting as one would imagine. In fact, it could be done in 30-min square, from start to finish.
You can make jam from any fruits you like and on the cheap while in season. Super delicious and healthy, minus all that unnecessary sugar, gelling agents, and conservatives from stored bought varieties.
Today, we’re making a refreshing cranberry jam from fresh cranberry and fresh fig.
Most importantly, if you’re a die-hard pancake and waffle fan like me, you’d need to keep at least a good jar in your fridge. Bad-ass breakfast calls for bad-ass jam.
Happy jamming, folks!
- 10 fresh ripe fig approx. 350gr
- 300 gr fresh cranberries OR 400gr frozen thawed
- 2 pieces of orange peel
- Juice of 1 ½-2 orange about 165-170ml
- 75 ml nectar agave OR 50gr coconut sugar *
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anis
- 40 gr ~ 2 heaping tbsp chia seed (this is our natural binding/gelling agent)
- 1 pinch of salt ~ ¼ tsp
- OPTIONAL As fresh cranberry is on the tangy (sour) side, depending on your taste for sweetness, add more sugar/sweetener to your liking
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Wash fruits in cold water
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Cut off the tips of the fig, chop into small pieces
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Put all ingredients in a sauce pan, mix well
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Cook on medium heat until boil
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Simmer with closed lid for about 30 mins, smash with wooden spoon and stir occasionally
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Add more orange juice or sweetness to the texture and taste of liking
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Store in clean jars (I’d recommend to boil them in water then dry)
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Keep refrigerated for up to a month or if frozen, up to 3 months
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• Serve on pancakes, waffles, bread or added to salad dressing (think roasted pumpkin, squash and such like)
(*) I’ve seen lots of recipes calling for honey. But I’ve learned by my bee-expert friends that above 40C, honey will lose all of its health benefits value becomes as good as sugar. Therefore, in baking, I’d always use maple syrup, agave if liquid sweetener is really necessary!
4 thoughts on “Home-made cranberry fig jam from fresh fruits”
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We don’t get fresh or frozen cranberries in UK. Could I use the same recipe for strawberry jam ?
Thank you.
Hi Sonali,
Lovely to see your comments here. Strawberry would be perfect too! So are blueberries, blackberries, mango, pineapple, etc. These are sweeter than cranberry so you might not need to add any extra sweetener. Happy jamming 😉