Spiced Christmas Jam Recipe

This spiced Christmas jam is a deep red cranberry and raspberry jam cooked with orange zest and juice, a chopped apple, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. It takes about 15 minutes of prep and roughly 70 minutes start to finish, water bath included, and makes 2 jars. There is no boxed pectin in it. The cranberries and the apple set it for you.

My grandmother kept a pot of preserves going on the stove every December while the rest of us wrapped presents, and this is my version of that pot. It tastes tart first, then sweet, and the cloves and cinnamon come in last.

Cranberries, Raspberries and What Else Goes in the Pot

• 2 cups fresh cranberries: the tart backbone and most of the natural pectin. They pop open as they simmer.
• 2 cups fresh raspberries: soft, sweet and seedy. They melt into the cranberries and round off the sourness.
• 2 cups granulated sugar and 1 cup water: the sugar sweetens, helps the jam gel, and is part of what keeps sealed jars safe on the shelf.
• 1 large orange, zested and juiced: zest for aroma, juice for brightness. Zest before you cut it.
• 1 apple, cored and finely chopped: adds body and more pectin. Peeling is optional; the skin softens in the long simmer.
• 1/2 cup raisins: little chewy pockets that taste like fruitcake.
• Spices: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves and 1/4 teaspoon allspice, all ground.

Does This Jam Need Boxed Pectin?

No. Cranberries are one of the highest pectin fruits you can buy, and apples are close behind, which is why the recipe chops one in. With 2 cups of sugar and 20 to 25 minutes of steady simmering, that pectin is enough for a soft, spoonable set.

Frozen berries work too. Do not thaw them first; they release more water, so plan on a few extra minutes of simmering before the jam passes the plate test. Fresh raspberries are pricey in December, and frozen ones give the same flavor here.

Spiced Christmas Jam or Strawberry Cranberry Christmas Jam?

Most “Christmas jam” recipes in canning books, including the Ball and Amish style versions people search for, are built on strawberries and cranberries and set with a box of powdered pectin. They are sweet and bright. Fast, too.

This one goes the other way. Raspberries replace the strawberries, the apple and raisins make it thicker and more like a fruit preserve, and four warm spices plus orange make it taste like mulled fruit. It needs longer on the stove because nothing comes from a box. For a sweeter, milder jar or a whole shelf of flavors for gift baskets, my Christmas jam recipes roundup has 15 to choose from, and the cranberry pomegranate jam is the closest tart cousin.

How to Cook It Down

Put the cranberries, raspberries and water in a large saucepan, bring them to a boil over medium heat, then turn it down and simmer for about 10 minutes. You will hear the cranberries pop. Stop when most have burst. The raspberries will have collapsed into the juice by then, and the pot will smell sharp and fruity rather than sweet.

Stir in the sugar, orange zest and orange juice until the sugar dissolves and the liquid no longer feels gritty against the spoon. Add the apple and raisins, then the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, and stir well so the spices do not sit in clumps.

Simmer on low for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then. In the last 10 minutes, scrape across the bottom of the pan each time. Raisins and sugar settle there and they are the first things to scorch. The jam is getting close when it coats the back of a spoon and the bubbles turn slow and glossy.

Has the Jam Set? The Cold Plate Wrinkle

Put a small plate in the freezer when you start cooking. To test, take the pan off the heat, drop half a teaspoon of jam on the cold plate and wait 1 minute. Push the edge with your finger. If the surface wrinkles and the jam does not run back together, it is ready. If it slides, keep going: simmer another 3 to 5 minutes and test again.

A thermometer helps if you have one: jam gels at about 220 F at sea level, which is 8 F above boiling water. Water boils about 2 F lower for every 1,000 feet of altitude, so subtract that. And stop at a soft wrinkle. Cranberry jam keeps firming in the jar for a day or so, and a stiff wrinkle on the plate turns into a jam you cannot spread.

Canning Spiced Christmas Jam for Gift Jars

Spoon the hot jam into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth, since one sticky smear can stop a lid from sealing. Add lids and rings, fingertip tight, and process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. The water should cover the lids by at least an inch. Above 1,000 feet, add time using the altitude chart in a tested canning guide such as Ball or the USDA.

Let the jars cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. A sealed lid curves down in the middle and does not flex when you press it. Any jar that pops back? Fridge, and eat it first. Sealed jars keep in a cool, dark cupboard for up to a year; refrigerate once opened.

Runny, Rubbery or Too Much Clove?

• Still runny after a day: pour it back into the pan within a day or two, bring it to a boil, and cook until it passes the wrinkle test. Reprocess in clean jars with new lids.
• Thick and rubbery: it cooked past the set. It is still good. Warm a jar’s worth with a tablespoon or two of water and it loosens into a glaze or filling.
• Clove takes over: ground cloves are the loudest spice in the pot. Measure the 1/4 teaspoon level, and next batch use a pinch less if your cloves are fresh and strong.
• Burnt taste at the bottom: scorched raisins and sugar. Do not scrape the dark layer into the jars; spoon off the top and leave the bottom behind.
• Lots of foam: skim it off before jarring so the jam stays clear and red in the glass.

For another spiced jar on the holiday shelf, the mulled wine jelly uses the same cinnamon and clove idea in a clear, wine red jelly.

Where a Jar of Christmas Jam Goes

At breakfast it goes on hot toast or split cranberry orange scones, which share the orange and cranberry. On a cheese board, set it next to brie, blue cheese or a sharp cheddar; the tartness cuts through the richness. Warmed in a small pan, it brushes on as a glaze for ham or turkey in the last 15 minutes of roasting.

For baking, it fills Christmas thumbprint cookies and the windows of raspberry linzer cookies. Stir it smooth first so the raisins do not sit on top. For gifts, tie the jars with twine, add a label with the date it was canned, and write “refrigerate after opening” on the tag.

For a plain berry jam to sit next to it, try the homemade raspberry jam or the berry medley jam.

Before You Fill the Jars

How many jars does this make?

The recipe makes 2 jars. Giving several as gifts? Make two separate batches rather than doubling one pot; a double batch takes much longer to reach the set and is more likely to scorch.

Can I make it without canning?

Yes. Skip the water bath, let the jars cool, and keep the jam in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. It freezes well too.

Can I cut the sugar?

Not for shelf stable jars. The 2 cups of sugar help the jam set and help keep it safe in the cupboard. For a less sweet fridge jam, you can reduce it a little, but expect a looser set and a shorter fridge life.

Is this the same as cranberry sauce?

Close, but it is cooked longer to a true set and is much more spiced. A cranberry sauce is softer and made to spoon next to turkey the same week, not to keep for a year.