Embracing homegrown fruits this summer? Not sure how to utilize your abundant harvest? When life gives you aronia berries, make some delightful aronia jam!
Aronia berries not only infuse an unparalleled taste but also pack a punch of antioxidants into every dish they grace. If you’re missing an aronia bush in your backyard, store-bought alternatives work just as well.
Aronia Jam Recipe
Dive into a kitchen adventure and whip up this sweet treat!
Ingredients
Equipment:
- Sieve
- Mason jars
- Large soup pot
- Small pot
For the Jam:
- 450g chokeberry berries (roughly 3-4 cups), cleaned and washed
- Water, just enough to barely submerge the berries
- 340g sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened powdered pectin
- A pinch of salt
- 1.5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (10 g) grated ginger along with its juice
- Finely grated zest of half a lemon or orange
Preparation
- Inspect the aronia berries, removing any attached stalks.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, and pectin. Transfer aronia berries and ginger into a large pot, adding just enough water to cover them.
- Heat the mixture to a boil. Once done, transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth. For a more refined consistency, strain the blend through a sieve to discard skin bits. However, if you’re aiming for a coarser texture, keep the skins. The unstrained mix should yield roughly 900g of puree.
- Introduce the sugar-pectin mix to the puree and return to heat until it reaches boiling point. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes.
- Once off the heat, incorporate the vinegar and either lemon or orange zest. Pour the hot mixture into mason jars. Depending on where you reside (altitude-wise), boil the jars in a water bath for 10-15 minutes to ensure long-term preservation.
- Upon cooling the jam, ensure the jars are sealed tight. Refrigerate or freeze. Note: You can also skip the water bath and directly store the jam in the fridge or freezer.
Enjoy the tantalizing taste of summer with every spoonful of your homemade aronia jam. Whether you spread it on toast, stir it into yogurt, or use it as a cake filling, the flavor will remind you of the vibrant summer days when the berries were picked.
About The Author
