Amish Christmas Jam: A Low Sugar Adaptation
Updated – June 1, 2023
Amish Christmas Jam is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
This recipe, originally an Amish recipe, was adapted from one sent to Connie Sumberg at Pomona’s Pectin by Nancy O’Neal of Bedford, Virginia. The original recipe used liquid pectin and a large amount of sugar. Nancy wanted to use Pomona’s and less sugar. Connie, of Pomona’s Pectin, adapted it for her.
Nancy has now made it with Pomona’s Pectin and said, “My sneak taste was wonderful! Used two cups of sugar! Makes a great jam for toast as well as a topping for cheesecake or cream cheese and crackers.”
Yield: 4-5 cups / 4-5 8oz. Jars
Before You Begin: Prepare calcium water. To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well. Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
Wondering what calcium water is? Calcium water is a solution of the monocalcium phosphate powder (food-grade rock mineral source) that comes in its own packet with every purchase of Pomona’s Pectin. The Pomona’s Pectin directions tell you how to make calcium water with the calcium powder. Pomona’s Pectin recipes call for calcium water because the pectin is activated by calcium, not by sugar. You can read more about calcium water here.
- 3 cups whole cranberries
- 1 orange; peeled seeded, and sections separated
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest from the above orange
- 2 cups frozen slightly thawed, sliced strawberries
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons calcium water
- 2 cups sugar divided
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s pectin powder
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Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
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Rinse cranberries and combine cranberries and orange sections in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped.
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Add strawberries, orange zest, cloves, and cinnamon. Process until finely chopped, but not pureed.
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Put processed fruit mixture into sauce pan.
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Cook mixture for 2 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly.
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Add calcium water, and mix well.
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Measure 1 cup sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
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Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.
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Add remaining 1 cup sugar once pectin is dissolved. Stir well and return to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat. Skim off any foam.
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Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil in water bath for 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down.
Eat within 1 year. The jam will last 3 weeks once opened.
Consider using 4oz. jars if you plan to gift this jam during the holidays.
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Being I don’t do Facebook I’m not able to enter the giveaway, but thanks for the Christmas Jam recipe
What’s calcium water?
The calcium water is what activates the pectin. In each Pomona’s box, there is a little envelope of pectin and of calcium powder. The instructions on how to make/store and use it are on the pamphlet that is included.
This sounds so good. Wodering if I can use sugar substitute instead of real sugar? i would really like to try this. Thanks
Hi Lisa and Carol,
Sugar substitutes that measure like sugar can easily be used to replace the sugar in any Pomona’s recipe.
I would like to know this also. Could stevie powder be used instead of the sugar, or maybe in place of half of it?
Hi Bob and Lisa,
If you’re using stevia concentrate, rather than cup-for-cup stevia, it would be fine to stir the pectin into the 1 cup of sugar as the directions say, and then once the pectin is dissolved and jam brought back to a boil, taste and add whatever amount of stevia concentrate you’d like.
If you want to use all stevia concentrate, you would follow the directions for making liquid pectin on the back side of the directions that come with Pomona’s Pectin, pink square, upper left corner.
I hope this helps. Happy Holidays & Happy Jamming from Pomona’s Pectin!
jelly is one thing I love making. This one sounds great
Can I use this recipe to make freezer jam?
Hi Felicia, Yes, you can! There are instructions on the pamphlet that comes with the pectin for freezer jam. If you’ve misplaced that sheet, here’s a link to it: https://www.pomonapectin.com/PDF/pomona-pectin-directions-2015.pdf
What is calcium water? Never heard of it before reading this receipe.
I made this to give as gifts at Christmas, and it was wonderful! Everyone raved about the jam. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
So glad that you liked it, Cresta! We’re grateful for the gracious folks at Pomona’s for developing the recipe and allowing us to share it!
Any recommendation on a strawberry substitute? Would raspberries work? We have a family member that is allergic to strawberries (sniff). Thank you!
Hi Kristin, I believe that raspberries would be safe, however, you may see variation in texture. We’d suggest a trial batch to see how the flavors flesh out. If you have red raspberries, you should be able to keep some of the festive red color. If you try it, we’d love to know how it turns out for you!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It sounds delicious!! Can’t wait to try it.
Is there a way to make this jam with regular pectin and sugar? I realize it would no longer be “low sugar”, but that would be fine with me.
Hello Nancy, Yes, you could try it with regular pectin and sugar, however, this recipe was designed around Pomona’s, so you may need to do some test batches. You can also use sugar with the Pomona’s. I’d recommend referring to the pamphlet that comes in the packet of pectin as it has recommendations on adjusting sugar levels.
Is there something I can use in place of the cloves – I do not care for that spice.
Thank you – this really sounds delicious.
Hello Mimi, Since the cloves are only present in the recipe for flavoring, you can omit them entirely if you’d like. It’s part of what makes it a “Christmasy” jam, but the cinnamon could certainly impart a good deal of flavor, and it’s important that you like it!:-) You can adjust the strength of flavor for whichever spices you do like, by using less initially, but also by allowing them to hang out in your jam pot for a shorter length of time.
Will have to try this recipe. Thank you
Yum! Great receipe for me because i’m diabetic and have Cilliac desease.
The sliced strawberries are plain and store store bought?
Gabriella,
Yes! You could use frozen strawberries from the store, or you could use strawberries that maybe you purchased and had frozen earlier in the year. Certainly, if using local strawberries that were bought and frozen during strawberry season – they might be a sweeter strawberry, than a frozen strawberries from the store. Your jam will be delicious, wherever you get your strawberries from. 🙂
Love this jam. It is so tasty and low in sugar. I add 2 teaspoons blood orange extract for a slightly different taste.
Has anyone made this with raspberries instead of strawberries? I saw the question asked, but not how the final result turned out