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12:48 pm
2nd Grader
New members
Wed 3-Feb-10
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Hi, Im new to forums but I was hoping someone may have an idea of the type of jam I could make for my young son to enjoy. He loves jam on his toast in the morning but I have trouble finding a shop bought one that doesn't contain loads of added sugar and preservatives. I want to make my own so it's organic and I know what's in it. I have my own plum tree so would be very happy to use these. any advise would be great.
5:01 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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Welcome to the forum, Tania - though I'm not too sure that you can make jam without adding sugar. If it is possible, then someone will tell you ....... lots of friendship and knowledge on this site.
5:08 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Hello Tania, welcome to the forum! As BS says, you probably can't make jam without sugar but it is, in itself, a preservative. I believe that Splenda can be used as an alternative but I have recently read that there are health issues with it. Good luck!
I'll try that again!
6:30 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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I remember an apple and pear spread I used to get for my kids when they were young and it was basically the juice reduced down to a jam like consistency. If it had anything in it I would suspect it would have something like citric acid as a preservative. I would say though that plums are probably too tart to do that with. Although jam has lots of sugar on it if you make it relatively runny then it spreads further on your toast and you don't use so much.
6:34 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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JoannaS said: Although jam has lots of sugar on it if you make it relatively runny then it spreads further on your toast and you don't use so much.
....... and there's more fruit flavour, too. I do make my jams runny, mainly because we enjoy it with Greek yogurt - huge improvement on flavoured yogurts, and with your own jam, there's no extra chemicals in it!!
8:36 pm
Hi there; if you look back on the forums, I think that I posed this or a similar question a few months back. The answer was a no, but if you google diabetic jam recipes, then there is are recipes that come up that are no sugar or low sugar; essentially they are a fruit purée though.
Hope this helps
shelley
3:47 pm
Councillor
Tue 22-Sep-09
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I agree with Shelley- fruit puree is the only way.
Jam has to have sugar, not only to sweeten the jam but the sugar is what preserves it and the reaction between the sugar and the pectin makes the 'set'.
Fresh fruit puree would be an alternative, you would need to give it a long, slow cook to get it thick enough to spread and then keep it in the fridge. If you make it in bulk, freeze it in small 'daily' amounts, then it will be fresh to eat. It won't keep for long even in a fridge.
Jam has to have sugar I'm afraid!
Until canning and freezing and bottling arrived the only way you could preserve fresh food was to salt it or sugar it or put it under oil ( excluding the air so it stayed fresh) or dry it.
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
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