Low Sugar Raspberry Jam

Raspberries are one of my favourite fruits. Unfortunately they tend to be expensive because they are so delicate. One of our neighbours has a raspberry patch so I stop by their fruit stand quite often. With so many things going on in the canning kettle, I forgot all about late season raspberries. My husband surprised me with 2 pints of these delectable berries so I decided to turn them into low sugar jam.

Low Sugar Raspberry Jam

Raspberry jam is the ultimate! Spread on a slice of lightly buttered toast it is a taste sensation sure to please on a wintery morning.

Standard pectin recipes call for a lot of white sugar without being able to substitute. I like being able to substitute sweeteners as a start and I like reducing white sugar where I can. The problem is with jams and jellies the standard pectin requires large amounts of sugar to gel. Pomona's pectin does not need sugar to gel but instead uses calcium water. What this means is I can make a much fruitier tasting jam using a lot less sugar.

I put the jam up in 125 ml jars. These are just so adorable! The 500 ml jar shows how tiny and cute these little jars are. They are the perfect size jar for gift baskets. Two pints gave a yield of 5 - 125 ml (half-pint) jars.

Raspberry Jam

1½ c prepared raspberries
1½ tbsp lemon juice
1½ tsp calcium water
1 tsp Pomona's pectin
1½ c granulated sugar
½ c water

Wash the raspberries. Mash. Combine the raspberries with lemon juice and calcium water in a saucepan. In a separate bowl combine sugar and pectin stirring well. Bring the raspberries to a boil and boil 1 minutes. Pour the water into the sugar mix. Stir well. Pour into the raspberry mix. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe the rims. Adjust two piece caps. Process in boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes.