Have I ever shared with you how much I enjoy cardamom? It’s one of those spices that’s a bit difficult to describe. It’s made from the seed pods of an Asian plant in the ginger family. I can see that as it has a bit of spice (not much) with deep floral undertones. Maybe a bit smoky. It lends itself beautifully to both sweet and savory dishes.
I’ve recently found out that cardamom can take an ordinary batch of jam and turn it into something sensational.
This peach and blackberry jam spiced with cardamom came together quite unexpectedly, really. I had a box of peaches to use soon before they would spoil. My original intentions were to make a simple batch of peach jam (which I still intend to do).
I make most of my jam using Pamona’s Universal Pectin and sweetened with honey. After looking over my recipe from the box of Pamona’s, I realized I didn’t have enough peaches to make a descent batch of plain peach jam. To compensate I threw in some wild blackberries that I had foraged for and frozen. After looking at the beautiful deep colors that were coming together, I decided to spice things up by adding a hint of cinnamon and cardamom.
All I can say is wow. I love it. I’ve been using it every morning on my toast and plan on using it for my next batch of oatmeal jam bars. Like I said, sensational!
Peach and Blackberry Jam Spiced with Cardamom
What I especially love about making jam sweetened with honey is that it always creates a perfect set. This means that the jam is not tough. It holds together well and spreads beautifully. The downside is that once the seal has been opened it will only last for 3 or so weeks in the refrigerator before spoiling.
If this is not enough time for you to eat a 1/2 pint of jam, use the 2 oz jam jars or substitute the honey for organic sugar. For a full tutorial on using Pamona’s Universal Pectin, click here.
A Jam Recipe: Peach and Blackberry Jam Spiced with Cardamom.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups mashed peaches and blackberries (About 8 large peaches and 2 cups of blackberries)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup honey
- 2 tsp pectin powder (from Pamona's Universal Pectin)
- 2 tsp calcium water (from Pamona's Universal Pectin)
Method:
- In a large pan, add the mashed fruit, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon juice, and calcium water.
- In a bowl, mix together the honey and pectin.
- Bring the fruit in the pan to a boil. Add the pectin-honey mixture and stir for 1-2 minutes until the pectin is dissolved. Return to a boil, then from from heat.
- Process for 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 feet above sea level) in a hot water bath.
- Click here for a detailed tutorial on how to naturally sweeten your jam using Pamona's Universal Pectin.
Have you made any fun batches of jam this year? Please share with us in the comments below.
This sounds great! I will have to try different fruits, though…both of these are now out of season at my fm.
Oh my! I thought the recipe called for 4 LBS of peaches! 🙂 Looks like I over bought! Well, I doubled this batch of jam and I’m freezing the rest for smoothies. A happy mistake 🙂
Oh, that does sound like a good mistake! I just learned that you can freeze peaches whole as well 😀 I just froze an entire bag yesterday!
Do you split it evenly between the blackberries & peaches? So, 2 cups peaches and 2 cups blueberries? Thanks!
Shaie, It doesn’t really matter. As long as the final product has four entire cups of smashed fruit. I think I probably had about 3 cups of peaches and 1 cup of blackberries. Hope that helps 😀
Can I use frozen peaches and blackberries from last season for this recipe?
Oh yeah, for sure! I’m usually pulling out frozen fruit for wintertime jam 😀
Hey Diana, I can’t seem to find calcium water anywhere, Could I use mineral water for this? Is it the same?