Homemade Raspberry Preserves in Syrup

Homemade thick and flavorful raspberry preserves made with just raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. These preserves are so easy to make and taste way better than store-bought jam.

There are a lot of different ways to make fruit preserves. One of my favourite ways is by cooking the fruit down with sugar into a thick syrup.

A lot of store-boughs jams, jellies and fruit preserves are made with additives for stabilizing or preserving the mixture. But if you want to avoid additives in food, making your own homemade raspberry jam is an easy way to do so.

It's so easy to make raspberry preserves. You only need a few simple ingredients and about 30 minutes of your time.

These preserves are great on waffles or crepes. My favorite way to eat them is simply on toast, either buttered and salted or with a bit of cream cheese. If you're feeling fancy you can also use raspberry preserves to make Easy Raspberry Cake Glaze and use it to glaze a strudel or for a full raspberry flavor trifecta try Raspberry Semolina Cake with Cardamom.

Quick Summary

• Mix the raspberries with sugar and lemon and cook over medium heat (105 C / 220 F) for about 25-30 minutes or until the liquid reduces and any foaming subsides;
• Be careful - it gets very hot;
• The key is to only cook it until it's the right thickness. The right thickness while cooking is a bit thinner than honey - but you won't see the final thickness until it cools;
• Top tip: Once the syrup starts to coat a wooden spoon, take out a few teaspoons and allow it to cool (maybe in the fridge) to see if it's the right thickness. If not, continue cooking and checking.

Jump to:

• Quick Summary
• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Storage
• Related
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

All you need to make homemade blueberry preserves is:

• Raspberries: You can use fresh or frozen raspberries to make this recipe.
• White sugar: White sugar is best as it keeps the process simple. Brown sugar would make for a thicker and darker syrup which could require less cooking time.
• Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice squeezed right out of the lemon is best for flavor.

You can also make fruit preserves with other types of fruit, for example maybe you'll like:

• Homemade Black Currant Preserves in Syrup
• Homemade Blueberry Preserves in Syrup

Equipment

• Saucepan: A decent sized saucepan so there's no risk of splatter since the preserves gets very hot while cooking. I used a 2.5 liter / 2.6 quart saucepan.
• Instant read food thermometer: An instant read food thermometer helps to determine if the preserves are cooking at the right temperature. This is optional but helpful.
• Glass storage jar: A glass storage jar is helpful for storing the preserves after cooking. I used a Kilner clip top glass jar with a capacity of 500 ml / 17 oz which was just the right size for this recipe.

Instructions

It helps to first roughly mix together the raspberries with the sugar and lemon juice. You can do this right in the saucepan. No need to defrost if you're using frozen raspberries.

Heat over medium while stirring to move the dissolving sugar from the bottom and replace it with the undissolved sugar from the top.

During the first stage of cooking the sugar need to dissolve fully into syrup. It will also start to take on the color and flavor of the raspberries. This should take about 10 minutes.

Eventually the mixture will begin to lightly foam as the water evaporates out of the fruit.

During this stage the temperature should be around 105 C / 220 F. Be very careful as it's really hot. Don't give in to the temptation to lick the spoon!

About 15-20 minutes in, you will see it begin to reduce. The foaming will also begin to subside.

The liquid will also thicken and begin to coat a spoon. Once it does, you can check if the syrup is ready. All in all it should take about 25-30 minutes.

What's the right consistency for preserves in syrup?

If there's anything tricky about making preserves it's getting it the right consistency. You won't know the final consistency until the preserves fully cool.

It also isn't possible to set-it-and-forget-it for a given amount of time because it isn't just a matter of how long you cook but also how big or juicy the fruit is to begin with.

While cooking: The right consistency while it's hot is a bit thinner than honey. It should coat a wooden spoon and when you stir, you should see the spoon makes channels that stay in the syrup for a second.

After cooling: The right consistency after it's cooled is a little thicker than honey. It should still coat a spoon but pour easily off of it. It shouldn't gel or be hard. If the syrup is too thick after cooking, you can soften it by heating it back up (putting it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds is enough).

Storage

I recommend storing the syrup in a glass jar like a Kilner clip top glass jar.

Although the idea with syrups and fruit preserves is that they also are meant to preserve the food, I still keep mine in the fridge to extend the shelf life. Stored in the fridge it should keep at least for 1-2 weeks.

• Saucepan: A decent sized saucepan so there's no risk of splatter since the syrup gets very hot while cooking. I used a 2.5 liter / 2.6 quart saucepan.
• Instant read food thermometer: An instant read food thermometer helps to determine if the syrup is cooking at the right temperature. This is optional but helpful.
• Glass storage jar: A glass storage jar is helpful for storing the syrup once it's cooked. I used a Kilner clip top glass jar with a capacity of 500 ml / 17 oz which was just the right size for this recipe.

Related

Looking for more recipe inspiration? Maybe you'll like one of these:

Recipe