Rhuberry Spread – Naturally Sweetened Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam
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I enjoy trying new twists on old favorite recipes, and right now our local rhubarb is abundant, so when I found this naturally sweetened strawberry-rhubarb jam, I had to try it. This rhuberry spread recipe has only 4 ingredients and contains no added sugar or commercial pectin. It’s sweetened with apple juice concentrate and thickened with natural apple pectin and slow cooking. The result is a sweet-tart taste that let’s the strawberry and rhubarb flavors shine through. In addition to being used as a spread, I’m sure this would dehydrate to make a great fruit leather, too. I hope you’ll enjoy trying something new, too.
Rhuberry Spread – Naturally Sweetened Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam Recipe
Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Makes about six 8-ounce (1 cup) jars
Ingredients
- 4 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 5 cups strawberries, hulled and halved – or just use small berries
- 2 cups rhubarb, finely chopped
- 2 (two) 12-ounce cans frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
Directions
Sterilize seven 8-ounce jars, keep hot. Fill water bath canner and bring to boil.
In large, stainless-steel saucepan, combine apples, strawberries, rhubarb and apple juice concentrate. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 50 minutes.
The official directions continue: “Remove from heat and test gel. If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam.” If you want to test for gel, you can check out how to do that in the apple jelly post. If you want to skim for foam, you can, although I rarely bother. I don’t normally end up with much, and I’m not entering my preserves in the county fair. I just cooked my mix down until it seemed thick enough, and mixed in the tiny bit of foam.
Ladle jam into sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Wipe rims clean and screw on the lids. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes in water bath canner (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level). Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars to a waiting towel. Cool, remove rings, and label for storage with date and contents. Wipe down any sticky spots, if needed, before storage.
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Makes around 6 half pint jars. This time around I ended up with 5 jars, because I was busy with other things and let it cook down a little longer . One jar was left open for photos. 🙂
The boys did all the chopping for this batch. Good job boys! I used up the last of the frozen strawberries, since our local strawberry season is just getting started. Since the berries were frozen, I didn’t bother slicing them. The spread looks different colors in the different photos because of different lighting. It’s been overcast so frequently lately that natural lighting was not as cooperative as it should be.
PrintRhuberry Spread – No Added Pectin
A delicious strawberry and rhubarb spread with just 4 ingredients, sweetened with apple juice concentrate instead of sugar and thickened with natural apple pectin.
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 4 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 5 cups strawberries, hulled and halved – or just use small berries
- 2 cups rhubarb, finely chopped
- 2 (two) 12-ounce cans frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
Instructions
- Sterilize seven 8-ounce jars, keep hot.
- Fill water bath canner and bring to boil.
- In large, stainless-steel saucepan, combine apples, strawberries, rhubarb and apple juice concentrate.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly.
- Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 50 minutes.
- Ladle jam into sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace.
- Wipe rims clean and screw on the lids.
- Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes in water bath canner(add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level).
- Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars to a waiting towel.
- Cool, remove rings, and label for storage with date and contents.
- Wipe down any sticky spots, if needed, before storage.
Notes
- Makes around 6 half pint jars.
You may also enjoy:
- Strawberry Banana Jam and Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
- Rhubarb-B-Q Sauce and Rhubarb-Orange Compote
- Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake
- Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
P.S. – If you don’t have generous neighbors with big rhubarb patches and don’t know where to find local strawberries, check out Eat Local Grown, a great website for locating farms, farmers markets and food co-ops.
Originally published in 2014, updated 2016.