Larder Love

The best preserving recipes plus easy cooking and baking too

  • ALL RECIPES
    • PRESERVES & LARDER
    • COOKING & BAKING
    • COLLECTIONS & CUISINES
  • TIPS & TRICKS
    • HOME HINTS
  • MY COOKBOOKS
  • ABOUT
    • CONTACT ME
    • PRIVACY
Home » Homemade Jam » Gooseberry jam with orange and lemon balm

Gooseberry jam with orange and lemon balm

Author: Karon Grieve Published : May 2017

Recipe
gooseberry jam
gooseberry jam
gooseberry jam

Gooseberry jam comes in many varieties. It’s a real make-it-at-home jam and people like to add their own spin on this simple jam. My gooseberry jam with orange and lemon balm is super easy to make and the mix of flavours really sings on your toast!

jam close up of glass bowl of jam with gooseberries and orange and leaves of lemon balm

Gooseberries come in a variety of different types. There are the pinky blush ones that taste sweet and tart all at the same time and the taste goes more sour as you get to the really light green varieties of gooseberry.

The really sour ones will ceratinly make your mouth pucker! I’ve gone for these blush pink gooseberries, they make this jam perfectly balanced for me anyway.

This simple gooseberry jam is a real taste of summery sunshine for me and so very quintessentially British with the gooseberries taking central stage. This mixture of fruits and herbs goes really well together with a sweetness, tartness and the zing of the lemon balm, perfection!

spoonful of jam on top of glass bowl with slices of orange

Lemon balm

If you haven’t used this herb before you are in for  treat. Lemon balm is a member of the mint family (watch it, this stuff grows like the proverbial weed!) and is packed with lemon flavour and scent. It makes a great herb for the garden as the leaves can be both solid bright green or variegated with lovely splashes of lemon yellow. Walking past this bush and ruffling the leaves give the most amazing fragrance.

Lemon balm tea is lovely and refreshing as well as relaxing.

The zingy lemon flavour in lemon balm makes it’s leaves perfect for dding to a salad (both savoury and sweet), for decorating cakes and also adding to your G&T and other drinks.

Don’t worry if you haven’t got any lemon balm just make the jam without it. Or you could add 1/2 a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest to replace the lemon balm.

gooseberry jam in bowl with ingrdients scattered on table

Gooseberry jam ingredients

You can make gooseberry jam with just 3 ingredients; gooseberries, water and sugar. Simple and delicious. But I like to mix things up a bit and I have a huge bush of lemon balm in my garden so like to make use of the stuff in as many ways as possible. It goes perfectly in this gooseberry jam with the addition of some orange just to ramp up that citrus flavour even more. By using the orange (juice and zest) I cut out adding water to my jam.

How to make gooseberry jam

The hardest part of making this jam is taking the time to pull off the little tufts on the ends of the gooseberries. Seriously, that’s how difficult this jam is to make. You are simply going to boil up your ingredients and them pot it up in a sterilised jar.

top down close up of bowl of jam

How much jam does this recipe make

I only used 300g of gooseberries in my jam recipe simply because that was all I got from our one and only gooseberry bush lurking at the bottom of the garden.

To make more jam simply double up the recipe. I just made one jar of gooseberry jam from this recipe. Wish I had another gooseberry bush!

How to serve gooseberry jam

This jam is lovely and fresh to wake you up in the morning on your breakfast toast. It is also good in a ploughman’s lunch alongside cheese and cold ham.

The zingy flavours of orange and lemon in this jam also make it perfect as the filling in a summer sponge cake.

Why not add a dollop to a cheese board too. The citrus and gooseberry flavours cut through rich cheese perfectly.

gooseberry jam with orange and lemon balm

How long will gooseberry jam keep?

This jam will keep for up to a year. Once opened store it in the fridge and use up within a month.

New to preserving? Then don’t panic, I can take you from zero to hero in no time at all.

Just check out these handy articles to get you heading in the right direction fast;

How to make great jam and marmalade

How to make cool curds

How to make great jelly

How to make chutney and relish

How to sterilise jars and bottles

Sticky situations – troubleshooting your preserves

Different types of preserves

My favourite preserving kit

larder links

Fancy some more summer time jam making? Then check out these jammy ideas;

Strawberry jam with sage and red wine

Raspberry and chocolate jam

Strawberry and redcurrant jam

Blueberry and raspberry jam

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.

Photos And Tips AboveMost of my recipes have step by step photos and useful tips plus videos too, see above.
gooseberry jam with orange and lemon balm

Gooseberry jam with orange and lemon balm

Karon Grieve
Super easy recipe for gooseberry, orange and lemon balm jam, perfect for breakfast toast or with a cheese platter.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Comment Bookmark Saved! Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course jam
Cuisine preserves
Servings 1 jar
Calories 971 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 300 g gooseberries
  • 1 orange zest and juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon balm chopped
  • 200 g sugar
Metric – US Customary

Instructions
 

  • Pick through the gooseberries removing turfts etc
  • Add the gooseberries, orange zest and juice and sugar to a pan and simmer till sugar has completely dissolved then boil for 15-20 minutes
  • Mash down the gooseberries in the jam with a potato masher as they soften and become tender
  • Skim off any scum on top of the jam
  • Add the chopped lemon balm just before you ladle it into a sterilised jar

Notes

calories shown are for full amount of jam.
This jam will keep for up to a year, once opened store in the fridge and use within a month

Nutrition

Calories: 971kcalCarbohydrates: 247gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 7mgPotassium: 864mgFiber: 16gSugar: 212gVitamin A: 1377IUVitamin C: 154mgCalcium: 142mgIron: 1mg
My Top Tips*Always read the full recipe first. *Assemble all your ingredients and everything you need before you start. *For baking check the size of tins I’m using as this makes a big difference to your cakes. * I use medium sized eggs unless otherwise stated. * I use extra virgin olive oil unless otherwise stated. * I use unsalted butter unless otherwise stated. * Check out My Preserving Kit!
Tried this recipe?Mention @LarderLove or tag #LarderLove

Filed Under: ALL RECIPES, Foraging Recipes, Homemade Jam, Spring

« Greek Fig and Feta Tarts With Thyme and Honey
Greek Style Wild Greens With Eggs »

Comments

  1. Maura McFall says

    June 12, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    I’ve been looking for recipes that include lemon balm as I have a lovely healthy bush of it this year after having a complete cull of it last year. It does take over and you can afford to dig it out or cut right back because it will come again the following year. However I have read it can have unpleasant side effetcs and as I sell my jams etc for charity fundraising I need to be very careful what I add to my preserves. Is it therefor completely safe to add the chopped leaves to the jam in your opinion?

    Reply
    • Karon Grieve says

      July 9, 2018 at 11:20 am

      I’ve never had any problems with lemonbalm
      K x

      Reply
  2. Wendy Spreadbury says

    July 21, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks for a great recipe. I think I may have let it boil for too long though as it has set a bit solid.

    Next time I’ll boil it for a bit less time.

    Thanks
    Wendy

    Reply
    • Karon Grieve says

      July 26, 2021 at 10:58 am

      Hi Wendy
      Thanks for letting me know that you liked the recipe. Boiling times for jams can be such a hit and miss on the timings.
      K

      Reply
  3. Patricia says

    June 25, 2025 at 1:56 pm

    5 stars
    Yes, I’ve made this jam. I entered it into our local horticultural show and got a first prize. The judge commented that she could taste every ingredient. It’s delicious and sharp too

    Reply
    • Karon Grieve says

      July 7, 2025 at 9:52 am

      Hi Patricia
      So glad your jam was such a success and that you won first prize with it, well done!
      K

      Reply
5 from 2 votes

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Karon Grieve

SEARCH MY SITE

Follow Larder Love

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Trending Now

elderflower jelly
wild garlic salt
homemade dandelion liqueur
gentlemans relish on toast with jar behind
rich and creamy mushroom soup
quick and easy simple scones recipe by larderlove

Summer Recipes

blackcurrant chutney
raspberry jam
chocolate scones on plate
dandelion and walnut pesto
smoked salmon muffins
chicken fajita traybake
red pepper chutney in jar with sandwich
blackcurrant jelly with coffee

See more Summer recipes...

BUY MY BOOKS

Karon Grieve books
my foodgawker gallery

Follow Larder Love

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Privacy Policy & Disclaimers

 

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright Karon Grieve - Larder Love © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

  • 15

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.