Using Natural Sweeteners in Jam
Have you ever looked at an approved recipe for a jelly, jam, or preserve and the amount of sugar made you do a double take? (Peach jam with six and a half cups of sugar, I am looking at you!) You are not alone, my friend. As someone with, ahem, questionable levels of blood sugar who actively tries to keep them in check, and also is a stickler for safe canning practices, I am sure you can see my dilemma here. How could I make jams that didn’t taste fake from artificial sweeteners, didn’t make my blood sugar skyrocket, all while being certain that I was canning safely? This was the question I set out to answer for my UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver final project.
The high sugar volume in traditional jam and jelly recipes not only helps the recipe thicken and gel, but it also acts as a preservative as well. While providing benefits such as inhibiting bacterial growth and spoilage, and shelf stability, those benefits come with higher calories and added sugar.
As tempting as it may be to simply reduce the amount of sugar in a recipe, you will end up with a runny and potentially unsafe product.
Thankfully, recently, there has been extensive research and testing of safe and tasty jam and jelly recipes using ingredient substitutions that still produce a similar texture and flavor that comes quite close to their full-sugar counterparts.
Using Pomona’s Pectin, I cooked and canned four separate batches of blueberry marmalade. I made a batch of each: allulose, stevia, monk fruit, and white granulated sugar as a control. Pomona’s Pectin is low-methoxyl citrus pectin specially formulated to allow you to use sugar alternatives and less sugar while still gelling and producing a safe product.
The consensus during my Master Food Preserver presentation was that the alternatives were not just good, but preferred to the sugar-based control!
If you are looking to reduce your added sugar intake while still safely canning, know that there are lots of easy and tasty alternatives out there. Ponona’s Pectin is a fabulous resource for learning more about safe reduction of sugars and use of alternative sweeteners when making jams and jellies.
No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
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Lauri Spitz is a University of Maine Cooperative Extension Master Food Preserver Volunteer. Master Food Preserver Volunteers receive 28 hours of hands-on training in food preservation. After successful completion of the program, volunteers serve at least 20 hours of community service annually, providing public food preservation education in the form of workshops, demonstrations, and educational displays.