Homemade Organic Jelly, Jam, Preserves, and Fruit Spread in 10 Minutes

Basic Recipe:
¼ cup cold water
2 Tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 cup diced fruit (can leave whole if desired, but may not spread as well)

Place the sugar and corn starch into a glass jar, and stir with a spoon until it is well disbursed. Add the water, and stir until all lumps are dissolved. Add the fruit, and stir well again. Place the jar into the microwave, and cook on high for 10 minutes. Voila! You now have a jar of wholesome jam, preserves, or fruit spread. It keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or forever in the freezer. Re-cook in microwave to refresh the shelf life for another 2 weeks.

Use it hot on ice cream, pancakes, or waffles. Or allow it to cool for use with crackers or peanut butter and bread. Additionally, this basic recipe makes a perfect fruit spread to use when baking turnovers or other pastry requiring fruit.

Because the water content of fruit varies, it may be necessary to adjust the amount of water (increase or decrease as necessary). If you discover too late that your mixture contains too much water, simply microwave it for an extra few minutes to evaporate the excess liquid.

Omit the sugar if a low carb fruit spread is desired.

What's the difference between jelly, jam, preserves, and fruit spread?
Jelly contains no fruit particles. To make jelly, use fruit juice and triple the amount of corn starch. Stir it every 5 minutes while cooking to prevent lumping. Upon removal from the microwave, it should have the consistency of thick gravy or thicker. Let it cool completely before using.

Jam is similar to jelly, but contains some fruit particles. To make jam, replace the one cup of diced fruit with one cup of a combination of fruit juice and fruit particles, and use 2 to 3 tablespoons of corn starch. Stir every 5 minutes while cooking to prevent lumping.

Preserves use either the whole fruit or large amounts of fruit pieces. Preserves are mostly fruit and less jelled liquid. The above recipe makes a jar of fruit preserve.

Fruit spread is similar to preserves, but normally without sugar, and sometimes without corn starch. To make fruit spread with the above recipe, omit the sugar and the corn starch. Depending upon the water content in the fruit being used, it may be necessary to reduce the amount of water when making fruit spread, or cook it longer to evaporate any excess liquid. Because no sugar is used, it does not keep as long in the refrigerator. Use before 10 days. Re-cook in microwave to refresh the shelf life for another 10 days.

Fruits that do not work in this recipe
Not all fruit is ideal for making jelly, jam, preserves, or fruit spread. Fruits containing a high amount of enzymes do not make good jelly, because the enzymes actually prevent the mixture from jelling. High-enzyme fruits include pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and mango. Additionally, some fruits are not very appetizing to use in jam making. For example, bananas and other fruits that mash too easily do not look appealing when made into jam, preserves, or fruit spread.

What fruits work best?
Many fruits can be made into jelly, jam, preserves, or fruit spread. Some popular fruits that work well in this recipe are apples, pears, apricots, peaches, cherries, plums, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries (double the sugar), strawberries, grapes, crabapples (double the sugar), persimmons, and prickly pear.

To ensure that you are making organic jelly, jam, preserves, or fruit spread, use only certified organic produce.

Will vegetables work too?
Yes, there are a number of vegetables that work great in this recipe. Try using rhubarb, tomatoes, or jalapeno peppers (for a tangy preserve), diced pumpkin and other firm squash.

What about dried fruit?
Dried fruits will work in this recipe, but increase the water to ½ cup (add more after 5 minutes of cooking if mixture does not appear moist enough). Dried fruits that will work with this recipe are raisins, prunes, dates, figs, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, cranberries, and cherries.