Jam: good and healthy, easy to prepare

Sweet and tasty, also easy to make at home, jam is a healthy food, ideal for breakfasts or snacks. Here’s how to make it at home!

Fruit and sugar are the basic ingredients of the jam. A food that recalls the grandmother’s ancient recipes. A versatile dessert that reigns supreme in many breakfasts and snacks. It is eaten by spoonfuls alone, spread on bread and rusks and as a filling for biscuits or many pies. Let’s find out in detail this delicacy, how it stands out, what its properties are and how to prepare it easily at home.

Difference between jam, jam and compote

A technical distinction must be made, according to a directive of the European Union . Jam is the product made up of at least 20% citrus fruit (like oranges and lemons). With the base of any other (like plums, strawberries or figs) or vegetables (like onions or pumpkin) at least 35% is called jam . When the fruit arrives or exceeds 65%, we are in front of the compote.

Properties, benefits and nutritional values

Jam is a carbohydrate food with nutritional values ​​varying between 130 kcal and 260 kcal per hectogram. Containing many sugars this rich food is advisable to eat it sparingly . So as to take advantage of the benefits it can bring, including:

• laxative properties
• counteracts cholesterol
• highly digestible, does not burn the stomach

Jam recipe

Making jam at home has many advantages. Reduce the price , you are sure to have a genuine and seasonal product. And then you avoid excess sugars and especially preservatives. To achieve it over the fruit and sugar you have to arm yourself with natural thickeners, such as the apple contains pectin, a natural gelling or, for example the ‘agar-agar, derived from red algae.

Choose the seasonal fruit you prefer. It must be matured at the right point and with the skin, rich in natural pectin. Instead, it should be removed in citrus fruits. Wash it well and cut it into homogeneous pieces. The quantities change according to the ripening of the fruit. Typically it takes 750 g of sugar per 1 kg of fruit .

Put your ingredients in a saucepan and let them cook on a low heat for a long time, stirring occasionally. When you see that it has the right consistency, put out the fire. Finally pour the contents into previously sterilized glass jars to avoid the proliferation of bacteria. Then close them tightly and keep them in a dark and cool place. Usually they can last 12 months , once opened, instead, you have to put them in the refrigerator and consume them in 5/7 days.

Cook the jam you like best. You can use the fruit you want: strawberries , figs, plums, oranges, berries, tangerines, apricots, the alternatives are many. Easy and genuine homemade jam is a rich food that enriches and sweetens your table and your body.

Photo source: https://pixabay.com/it/photos/marmellata-apfelmarmelade-apple-4521023/