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We’ve posted a few delicious recipes here that pair wonderfully with a jam, but we’ve been pretty light on the actual jam recipes! It’s about time we fixed that. Today, we’re sharing a jam recipe that is light, delicious, and pretty simple.

To make a basic fruit jam, all you need is to find the right ratio of fruit to sugar. We wanted to go a little further, however, and create a jam with a little more complex flavor. We also wanted to create a recipe that was decidedly jam-like without using pectin. To get the desired consistency, we had to simmer the ingredients with a few cups of sugar until a syrup forms. To maintain the lightness of the jam, we included some lime zest and lemon juice along with fresh, grated ginger. Adding in some vanilla and cinnamon grounded this recipe to really make it stand out. We used a canner to make this jam last in the jars, but if you don’t have one it’s okay. Read the directions on canning without one here. Just make sure everything is hot from the jars to the preserves. Keep reading below for our pear jam recipe…

Ginger Pear Jam

(makes 48 servings)

Ingredients

  • 5 1/2lbs pears, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons grated ginger,
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • grated zest from 6 tangerines
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a Dutch oven. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until thick, stirring occasionally. Stir more frequently as the mixture thickens.
  2. Just before the mixture is finished thickening, sterilize jars and lids in boiling water. Remove the jam from heat and skim off any foam. Carefully ladle into the hot jars, leaving about 1/4″ room from the top. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and adjust lids. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner. If you don’t have a canner, make sure the lids are on tight, turn the jars upside down, and allow to cool. The lids should form a vacuum seal. If they don’t, you need to eat the jam ASAP. If they do, the jam can last.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home