Raspberry-Habanero Jam
Raspberry-Habanero Jam is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener. This recipe was created by Allison Carroll Duffy for Pomona’s Pectin.Allison says: This jam is great at breakfast on toast if you’re looking for a little kick-start to your day. It’s also really delicious paired with a sharp cheddar, on crackers, or with a crusty baguette. I have to say, though, that my most favorite way to enjoy this jam is on top of vanilla ice cream. The hot and spicy, tangy sweetness of the jam complements the cool creaminess of ice cream beautifully.
Notes
Strawberries, Kiwi, Currants, Gooseberries, Sour Blackberries, Sour Cherries, Sour Plums, and Pineapple can be used in place of the raspberries.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 2¼ pounds raspberries about two level quarts
- 4 Tablespoons yellow bell pepper seeded, finely-diced
- 4 Tablespoons habanero pepper seeded, finely-diced
- 1/3 cup lemon juice bottled
- 2½ teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2½ teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Combine the diced yellow pepper, the diced habanero pepper, and 1 cup of water in a sauce pan. Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer, still covered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Working over the sink or a large bowl, carefully transfer the pepper mixture into a fine-mesh strainer to drain the water from the peppers. Discard the water and set the cooked peppers aside.
- Gently pick through fresh raspberries to remove any leaves, stems, or damaged parts. Rinse the berries only if necessary.
- Place the raspberries in a mixing bowl and mash them lightly. A potato masher works well for this. Add the cooked peppers to the raspberries, and mix to combine.
- Measure out 4 cups of the raspberry-pepper mixture (If you have extra, simply use it for something else.) Pour the measured amount of the mixture into a large sauce pan. Add lemon juice and calcium water, then stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and the pectin powder. Mix well and set aside.
- Raspberries in sauce pan on stove8. Bring the raspberry-pepper mixture up to rolling boil over high heat. Add the sugar-pectin mixture, then stir vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes, still over the highest heat, to dissolve pectin. Return jam to a boil, then remove from heat.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
- Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
I made this recipe with frozen raspberries and jalapeños I had from summer. I cooked them down and ran them through food mill to remove seeds. From the pulp/juice I made this, regular raspberry jam and raspberry syrup using the instructions here, including adding extra pectin because I removed the seeds.
All of them are very firm, more like solid jelly rather than jam or syrup. Is this because I cooked them first? Is there anything I can do make the consistency to be jam and syrup?
Thanks!
The most usual cause for a too firm or rubbery texture with Pomona’s is that you used less fruit than the recipe called for. Our recipes are calculated for mashed fruit. So if you use pieces of fruit or whole berries, you are actually using less fruit than if it were mashed, or cooked to a mash and then measured, and you will get a firmer jell. Or you may have used more pectin than the recipe called for. For example, if you used Tablespoons of pectin rather than teaspoons.
Cooking can also affect the amount of fruit you are working with. For example, if you cook the fruit mixture for too long before adding pectin, you could reduce the fruit volume and make the pectin amount too high for the fruit you have left.
It is less likely that your jam would be too firm from overcooking after adding the pectin. Usually if you cook jam made with Pomona’s for too long after adding the pectin, it will de-activate the pectin and you will get a poor jell.
Getting the right texture for your jam/jelly can be challenging. It is just a bit of a guessing game when it comes to fixing up your finished product, due to it being up to preference of texture. You will need to make an educated guess at how much fruit/liquid to add.
If you would say that your jam/jelly is about 25% too firm for your liking, you will want to add 25% of the called for amount of mashed fruit/juice in your recipe (about 1 cup if you followed a 4 cup recipe). If it is 50% too firm, you’ll use 2 cups of mashed fruit/juice; and so forth.
You will empty your jam/jelly into a pot, and bring it up to just a boil. Add your additional liquid (unsweetened juice, or mashed fruit or water) and let it boil for 1-2 minutes. Recan your jam/jelly into clean, hot jars and reprocess in a water-bath canner.
Can I substitute Haskap (Honeyberry) or Black Currants for the raspberries in this recipe?
Strawberries, Kiwi, Currants, Gooseberries, Sour Blackberries, Sour Cherries, Sour Plums, and Pineapple can be used in place of the raspberries.
Hi I have made this with raspberries and it turned out great. I am wondering if I can use a some frozen mixed berries next time? It had raspberries, blueberries and blackberries and strawberries in it. Thank you. Also would an apricot version work?
Hello! Is this recipe kitchen tested? I really want to make a blackberry jalapeño jam but having the hardest time finding one that is. And second, could this be made without pectin too? As more of a cooked down syrup?
Hello Heather,
What do you mean by kitchen tested?
It sure can! Though we would recommend using our fruit syrup recipe HERE.
Hi there !
Can I substitute peaches (frozen) for raspberries in this recipe?
Thank you !
Hello Jenni,
Yes you sure can! You will just need to increase the lemon juice on this recipe to 2/3 cup. The peaches will also need to be thawed before they are mashed and measured.
I would like to combine rosemary with the habaneros for a Strawberry or Blackberry Rosemary Habanero jam. Can that be safely done?
It sure can! You can either add 1 teaspoon dried rosemary to your 4 cups batch or you can add some springs of fresh rosemary and steep it/cook it with your jam; you will just need to remove the springs before canning.
Could you use pears instead of the raspberries or combination of the two, and if so, would you alter any of the other ingredients, thanks
You sure can! You may replace it entirely or do 50/50 pear-raspberry. We would suggest adding 1/2 cup lemon juice vs. 1/3 cup, just for safe measure.
Happy jamming!
Thanks for the recipes; I’ve used many of them with great success. On this one, I’m assuming it’s OK to vary type and proportion of hot pepper to taste – correct? Is the total quantity of pepper (8 Tablespoons) the critical number to stick with?
Thanks so much Doug! Yes, you can absolutely interchange which peppers you prefer (even seeds or no seeds), but the over all measurement needs to stay the same.
Thanks for the quick response, Shelby. I just did a first, small experiment, making a partial recipe. Used 100% jalapeño for the peppers, seeds included. I cut down the sugar a bit; closer to the proportion for the standard Pomona’s raspberry jam recipe (3/4 cup minimum for 4 cups fruit) – OK to make that change I think. Result: spectacular combo of sweet and heat! I like moderate heat and it suits my palate well.
Do you have to pre cook fresh peppers? Prior comment on frozen peppers you stated ok to just add to raspberries. Why do I have to add extra 1/2tsp pectin for seedless raspberries? Can I double recipe?
You do not have to precook the peppers, if you would like them to be a bit more firm.
The additional pectin is needed anytime you remove the seeds since the seeds carry natural pectin themselves.
You sure can double the recipe!
I am excited to try your product and recipes! If I want to make this with jalapeño and seedless, do you have suggestions?
Hello Carol,
Yay! You can absolutely replace the habaneros with jalapeños, they will be a direct substitution. If you are wanting the raspberries to be seedless, that is just fine. The finished measurement will still need to be 4 cups of mashed-seedless raspberries. You will also need to increase the pectin by 1/2 teaspoon.
Happy jamming!
I love all your jams so thank you for many wonderful recipes. I have a question about the raspberry habanero jam. I diced the habaneros and froze them for future batches. Do I still need to boil and drain the peppers or can I add them directly to the raspberries? I was wondering if the boiling step was simply to soften the peppers and if yes, they are plenty soft when they come out of the freezer and thaw. Thanks for your help!
Hello Heather,
Putting them straight into the raspberries should be just fine! Happy jamming 😊