Cranberry Jam With Gin
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Christmas and Thanksgiving means cranberries. Cranberries mean sweet sauces and of course my cranberry gin. One step further gives you my Cranberry Gin Jam! Even if you haven’t made this festive gin you can still make this deliciously grown-up cranberry jam with gin.
This past weekend I have been lucky enough to be back at The Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair demonstrating how to make some fabulous foodie gifts for Christmas on the stage of the food theatre.
I made my Christmas Cranberry Gin and this Cranberry Gin Jam is what you do with those gin soaked cranberries once you have your gin!
Making Christmas Cranberry Gin is super easy, just check out the recipe I put up the other week to see exactly how to make this tasty tipple.
Waste not want not!
That used to be a favourite saying of my Mum and this Cranberry Gin Jam is a perfect example of her old principle. You are going to use those gin-soaked cranberries that you made your liqueur with to create a super tasty and just a touch boozy jam.
Ingredients for cranberry jam
- If you have made the Christmas Cranberry Gin you will have the gin soaked cranberries all ready and waiting to make this jam. The recipe had called for 450g of cranberries so let’s say that is what we have to work with here.
- You will therefore want 350g of sugar to make your jam.
That’s it for ingredients!
If you haven’t made the gin then just use 450g of cranberries and an equal amount of sugar plus that all-important gin. I’d add 100ml gin at the end of the jam making recipe.
How to make this jam
- When you strain the liqueur through the lined sieve you will not only have the gin soaked cranberries in the sieve but the spices, ginger and orange peel too.
- Now it’s time to get messy and dig about removing all the little spice bits. The last thing you want is to make up this gorgeous jam and then have a friend chomp down on an allspice berry and break a tooth. Really not the sort of festive surprise that anyone wants!
- Take out the orange peel and the little pieces of ginger and finely chop these into tiny pieces. You are going to add these back to the cranberries and into your Cranberry Gin Jam for extra flavour.
- Place the cranberries plus the minced ginger and peel into a preserving pan and add the sugar.
- Warm on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and press the cranberries with a potato masher to squish them down and release all the juice (and gin!) then raise the temperature and boil till it thickens and comes to setting point.
- Ladle into sterilised jars and pop on the lids.
So that’s it folks, first you had the Christmas Cranberry Gin and now the Cranberry Gin Jam, what could be more festive!
Looking for more fun cranberry recipes to try? Then check these out before you go
Cranberry and Orange Marmalade
Cranberry Gin Jam
Equipment
- preserving pan
Ingredients
- 450 g gin soaked cranberries
- 350 g sugar
Instructions
- After straining the Christmas Cranberry gin pick out the spices, orange peel and ginger.
- Discard the spices
- mince the orange peel and ginger
- Place cranberries, ginger and peel in preserving pan and mash with potato masher to release juice
- Add sugar and heat over low temperature till sugar has dissolved
- Raise temperature to a rolling boil till set has been reached
- ladle into sterilised jars and pop on the lids
Okay, perfect timing! Cranberries will be on massive sale after Thanksgiving here in the US. And this will be perfect with our beef roast at Xmas!
Hope you enjoy it
K
Karen
This was a real hit with the adults and took over from the usual plain cranberry sauce with our turkey! Initially I wasn’t convinced, but after leaving it in jars for a while it mellowed and was super.
I made several of your recipes for both gifts and for our own consumption! Your macaroons, both the plain and mint versions were a great hit with the recipients and brought back childhood memories of living in Aberdeen. The cranberry gin, gin jam, pear liqueur and the apple & blackberry gin all hit the spot and were quaffed happily over Christmas.
Your recipes are so well written with clear instructions making things for a novice like myself so easy to follow. This is the first time I’ve ever written a review but felt I had to let you know, with your instruction I had great success. Happy days
Thank you Karen and keep going! I’ll be looking through your recipes for more to attempt x
Hi Louisa
Thanks so much for this wonderful comment. This is what makes food blogging worthwhile when you get comments like this. I’m so pleased that you are enjoying my recipes and that the recipients of your foodie gifts were thrilled with them.
Have a wonderful New Year and 2020.
K x
Hi, I’ve just made your bramble & apple gin and am going to do the cranberry gin and this jam over the next couple of weekends. (Am trying to do a fedtive recipe every weekend now up to Christmas ) I was wondering if you need a particular jam sugar for this recipe? If not, what kind of sugar would you recommend?
Many thanks!
Hi Susan
Great to hear you are embracing the foodie gift vibe. I use standard granulated sugar in all preserves unless I’ve made a point of saying I’ve gone for preserving sugar. I like to keep things as easy as possible.
Good luck with all your kitchen crafting.
K
Outstanding recipe! I can’t wait to make more gin so I can make this delicious jam from the leftovers. I can’t recommend it enough,
Hi Emily
Thanks so much glad you like the recipe and do hope you try the jam too.
K
I made the cranberry gin and I’m now making the jam. It’s so thick and hardly any liquid. Is that normal?
Hi Mary
It can be a bit thick but you can add some water to loosen it up whilst making it or add cranberry juice
K
I’ve had these boozy cranberries in my freezer a while (which is funny since they don’t fully freeze thanks to the alcohol in them) planning to make this recipe. Do you freeze this or use hot water or oven canning?
Hi, we don’t do water bath canning here in the UK and Europe and out preserves keep just fine without it. Hope you’ll try this one.
K