Cranberry Persimmon Jam Recipe (no pectin)

This cranberry persimmon jam recipe is simple, delicious and easy! Both cranberries and persimmon have natural pectin making it a simple recipe. Enjoy this recipe on toast, PB&J’s, short bread cookies, angel food cake… the list could go on. Include with this recipe a simple way to bath water can your jam for longer shelf storage.

Is Homemade Jam Healthy?

You can make homemade jam healthier than store bought jams by using less sugar and no synthetic preservative or ingredients but there is still a lot of sugar in homemade jams. So, healthier but not healthy.

Tips For Making Your Homemade Jam and Jelly Healthier

Use Less Sugar

If you are using sweet fruit like strawberries, apricots, peaches or plums you can use a lot less sugar in your jams and it still taste sweet and delicious. When try a new recipe add half of the sugar and cook for a few minutes then taste the jam. Add more till you reach your desired sweetness. When using cranberries in your recipes you will want to use the recommended amount of sugar due to there sour and sometimes bitter taste.

Substitutes For Sugar

Honey, maple syrup, and stevia are all great healthy substitutes for sugar! I prefer doing half sugar and honey rather than doing 100% honey or another sweetener.

When omitting sugar from your jam recipes it will effect the thickening of you jam. To be successful use the right pectin. Pectin and sugar work together in thickening and firming the jam. There is pectin that does not require sugar to activate, such as, Real Fruit Pectin.

Do Cranberries Have Natural Pectin?

Yes! Cranberries have lots of natural pectin and firm up really well the longer you let them simmer.

Do Persimmons Have Natural Pectin?

Yes! Persimmons have natural pectin. Although they have a natural pectin they may not have enough to get your jam to your desired texture. That is why this recipe uses cranberries. They have a lot more natural pectin helping thicken my persimmons and creates a wonderful blend of flavor.

Different Types of Persimmons

There are two main types of persimmons Fuyu and Hachiya. Fuyu is the sweet, eat like an apple delicious when raw persimmon fruit. It is short, with tough skin and juicy flesh. Hachiya is not like the Fuyu. It is long and although sweet with the same flavor as the Fuyu it often has a mouth drying feeling when you eat it. This is due to what’s called Astringency. The best way to use Hachiya persimmons is by cooking them or waiting till they are over ripe to eat.

Either choice is good for jam. Both are sweet and cook the same. When ever I get Hachiya persimmons I always make jam with them. This year we had an abundance of Fuyu and enjoyed them daily with enough to make our jam.

How to Make Cranberry Persimmon Jam

Prepare Your Persimmons

Cut and peel your persimmons in small pieces. Trim off any blemishes.

Cook Your Jam

In a large pot cook on medium high the persimmons, cranberries sugar, orange juice and zest, cinnamon, and all-spice. Let it simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.

The jam should thicken up. You can test the texture by taking a tablespoon of the jam and placing it in the freezer for a minute to see how thick the jam sets when cooled.

Blend You Fruit

After its cook for a while. Use an immersion blender to blend your jam to your desired consistency. I like a few chucks of fruit but not a lot. You can also place you jam in a blender or mash it with a potato masher. The longer it cooks the more the fruit will brake down but it is faster if you blend it.

Store Your Jam

Clean your jars and sanitize if you plan on water bath canning them. Use a ladle and a canning funnel for clean easy transfer into the jars.

Without canning your jars will last 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator. With canning they will last up to a year in your pantry. Once opened, 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.

How To Water Bath Can Jam

Wash and sterilize your canning jars, lids and rings. You can sterilize by placing the clean jars in boiling water with a 1/2 cup of vinegar for ten minutes. I always wash my rings and lids with hot soupy water and put them in a stainless steal strainer above the boiling water on top of the jars to steam them.

The vinegar is optional. I use it because are water is hard and leaves spots on the jars unless I use the vinegar.

Heat water to a light simmer in a large canning pot and with a canning jar rack.

When the jam is hot poor it into your jars leaving a 1/2 inch of headspace.

Clean off the rim of your jars with a little white vinegar and place the lids and rings on finger tight, no tighter. With your jar tongs place your jars with hot jam into the hot water. (You can also work with cold jam but you will need the water to also be cool.)

Bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the jars remain in the water for another 10 minutes before taking out. Take out and let cool. After a few hours take the rings off and check the seal by lifting gently on the lid.