No wonder Carlson loved jam: a man in his prime knew a lot about sweets. Fruits preserved in sugar not only have a sweet taste, but also store a lot of vitamins that our body lacks in the period of cold and frost. If you love to pamper yourself with these useful delicacies, be sure to cook hawthorn jam. It has an original sweet-sour taste and an incredible aroma, and can also have a beneficial effect on health.
About hawthorn and its benefits
Few people have heard of these bright, red berries, but not everyone knows about the benefits they conceal.
Hawthorn fruit:
- They contain antioxidants that are able to cleanse the body of toxins and heavy metals, helping to improve kidney function, eliminate cholesterol plaques in blood vessels, and also prevent the formation of tumors.
- A positive effect on the work of the heart due to the presence of ursolic acid. Hawthorn is often used to treat cardiovascular diseases (arrhythmias, angina pectoris, heart attack, etc.).
- They have a calming effect on the nervous system, so the plant is used in the treatment of insomnia, epilepsy, nervosa, chronic fatigue.
- Reduce blood sugar levels, and therefore useful for diabetics.
- Able to remove spasmodic muscle pain.
- Possess astringent action, which is indispensable in the fight against diseases of the gallstones, kidneys and liver, as well as for the normalization of urination.
- Helps to cope with indigestion, gastritis.
Important! Nursing mothers using hawthorn helps to increase the amount of milk.
As you can see, these red berries deserve a place in our diet, and jam is a great way to eat vitamins with pleasure. In addition, hawthorn is not only useful fruit, but also a beautiful plant, which decorators today actively use in landscape design.
How to cook classic jam (with bones)
The classic version is particularly popular due to the simplicity of its technology - even the beginning hostess can cook it.
And the first secret of a tasty delicacy is the correctly chosen raw material:
- Only ripe fruit is needed. The fruit stem shows their readiness for consumption: if it is easily separated from the berry, the hawthorn is mature.
- Inspect the raw materials for damage. It is undesirable to use crumpled, pecked berries.
- The fruits of the bushes that are located near the roads, absorb too many toxic emissions. Try not to use such berries.
- If you still do not have much experience in canning, do not immediately take a large amount of hawthorn, it will be difficult to recycle. Better to do the workpiece gradually, in small batches.
Did you know? The genus of Hawthorn plants is considered one of the most ancient on the planet, since there is evidence that its representatives existed even in the Mesozoic era, along with plane trees and magnolias.
Required Ingredients
For the preparation of sweets will need:
- 2 kg of hawthorn berries;
- 1 kg of sugar.
Action list
The process itself is quite simple:
- 1. Start cooking with washing and revising the berries. Fallen fruits or particles of garbage can spoil the impression of the most delicious dish, so we carefully review the raw materials.
- 2. After washing the berries, let them dry. To make it go faster, spread them out evenly on clean paper or cloth.
- 3. Then, in a large metal pot or bowl (in which the future jam will boil), pour the hawthorn along with the sugar.
- 4. Mix well the mixture and leave for 8-10 hours.
- Such preparations can be made in the evening, so that the berries pour out juice overnight.
- 5. After the specified time, the fruits in their own juice put on fire.
- 6. Do not forget to stir the sweet mass, increasing the temperature every couple of minutes, until boiling begins.
- 7. When the jam boils, remove the intensity of the fire to a minimum and cook the mixture until thick.
Important! The readiness of the jam is checked simply: drop a drop of liquid on the saucer, and see that it does not spread.
The finished product is poured into cans and enjoy a great taste.
Sugar jam syrup (seedless)
A little more time consuming in the process of making jam from hawthorn without pits, but the taste and texture of this delicacy is worth it.
Grocery list
The structure includes:
- 1 kg of hawthorn;
- 0.5 liters of water;
- 1 kg of sugar;
- 2 grams of citric acid.
Learn also how to make jam from: quince, wild strawberry, red and black currant, Manchurian walnut and strawberry.
Step-by-step process
We start according to the already known scheme:
- We wash and sort the berries.
- After this, it is necessary to remove the bones from them (note that the fruit juice quickly paints the hands with a brown color, which is poorly washed afterwards, so do not forget to wear gloves).
- Pour the berries into the cooking pot and fill them with water.
- Cook until softened, then pour the water into a separate bowl (we still need it).
- Ready berries we grind through a sieve so that the future jam gets a texture close to the cream one.
- The ground mass is returned to the pan, pour the remaining water and add sugar with citric acid.
- Next, cook on low heat, stirring.
- The jam will be ready when it starts to stick to the bottom.
Did you know? In the old days, this plant personified purity and innocence, therefore, on many Christian icons of that time, you can see the Mother of God holding a branch of hawthorn in her hands.
How to store jam
To enjoy delicious jam in the winter, it is important to know the conditions in which it is necessary to contain it so that the treat will not be spoiled.
The first rule of successful storage is container:
- Experienced housewives recommend canning in 0.5 l glass jars.
- Do not forget about the sterilization of dishes.
- The sterilized jar should be dry at the time of pouring jam into it. To dry, place the container upside down on a paper towel or send it to a slightly heated oven.
- Now it's up to the covers. They must be intact, free from corrosion. Choose any: curled, white or vacuum.
The second rule is the product itself.:
- The thicker the mass, the greater the chance of success of its preservation.
- Be sure to remember the need for acid in sweet preservation. Its presence will save the workpiece from the appearance of mold. In jams, where fruits with stones are used, there is enough natural acid, but peeled jams need additional oxidation with citric acid or juice.
The third rule is storage.:Ideally, in this case, send the banks to the refrigerator, but few have so much space in the home unit.
Important! Similar preservation can be stored in room, room conditions. Put the banks in a dark place (great if there is a closet), where the air temperature does not rise above + 19 ... + 20ºС.
Storage in the cellars is a fairly common practice, but the jam in such conditions may suffer: from a sharp drop in temperature, banks can simply burst.
The fourth rule is how much can be stored.:
- If we are talking about products without stones, then in the right conditions it will last 2-4 years.
- However, when there are bones in the delicacy, it is advisable to use the preservation for six months, otherwise the bone nuclei will begin to produce hydrocyanic acid - a natural poison that can harm health.
Harm and contraindications to the use of the product
Since the hawthorn in the composition of the jam undergoes long-term heat treatment, the probability of harm from it is minimal. However, we should not forget that these berries belong to medicinal plants, and any medicine requires dosage. Therefore, do not abuse the delicacy to avoid problems with the stomach and teeth (remember the high sugar content in the composition of the jam).
Pregnant people with heart or gastrointestinal problems are generally better off with a couple of spoons of jam a day. 
The only ones who better to avoid hawthorn at all, even in the form of jam, are nursing mothers. Also, do not forget that patients with diabetes and people suffering from metabolic disorders are strictly contraindicated in any kind of jam and jam, regardless of their composition.
Useful jam
Not only hawthorn can boast a rich set of vitamins, there are other equally useful ingredients for winter sweets.
Raspberry
Raspberry jam probably belongs to the most popular types of jams. It is rare to meet a person who does not love him. And in the winter such raspberries in general become the main natural medicine in the fight against colds and flu.
Salicylic acid in its composition helps to reduce the temperature, has a diaphoretic effect, especially if you use jam in the form of hot tea.
We advise you to read about the beneficial properties of raspberry leaves, as well as how to dry the leaves and brew tea.
Even hawthorn and raspberry jam is widespread, because, in aggregate, these berries are an effective means to strengthen the immune system. 
Walnuts
Among all the nuts, most often, it is walnuts that are used for making preserves. There are several reasons for this:
- low cost of raw materials;
- a huge stock of vitamins and minerals in nuts;
- There are very few contraindications to this delicacy due to its usefulness (even pregnant women can be);
- It successfully strengthens the immune system, improves brain function, helps with nervous disorders and diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Did you know? For representatives of some ethnic groups, walnut jam is an excellent tool in the fight against toothache, (it is simply chewed).
From white sweet cherry
White cherries are not as common as the darker varieties of this tree, but in vain. It has a lot of useful properties, the effect of which, although weakened when making jam, but still works:
- Sweet cherry helps to improve intestinal motility.
- Performs the prevention of skin diseases.
- Jam based on it improves the quality of blood and cleanses the walls of blood vessels.
- The main disadvantage of sweet cherries is its high calorie content, which, together with a large amount of granulated sugar, makes jam a rather dangerous product for people who have a tendency to be overweight.
Read more about the recipe for making white cherry jam, as well as other preparations from this berry for the winter: compote or cherry jam with pits.
It does not matter what hawthorn jam to choose: with or without a bone, both options will give you a charge of health and strength to you and your loved ones, so do not deny yourself the opportunity to improve your health with pleasure! Moreover, this jam is enough to cook once so that it delights with its taste all year round.
