What is the difference between jams and marmalades

Jellies are clear and should hold their shape yet be tender. The flavor should be a good fruit flavor with the right amount of sweetness. Jams are made by crushing fruit with sugar. Jams are usually thick and sweet but not as firm as jelly. Jams should be spreadable. Preserves, on the other hand, use whole small fruits or pieces of fruit in a gelled syrup.

The pieces of fruit should be transparent to clear and the color should be characteristic of the fruit from which it is made. Conserves are a lot like jam but are made from combining fruit and sometimes raisins, nuts, and coconut. Get our Strawberry Jam recipe. Preserved Onion Marmalade. A jar of this onion marmalade will have you hardly being able to tell the difference.

Strong flavors like garlic, chili flakes, white vinegar, orange juice, and some salt, pepper, and brown sugar meld together nicely. Red Pepper Jam. Add in some extra red pepper flakes to kick the flavors up a notch. Get our Red Pepper Jam recipe. Blood Orange Port Marmalade.

The bright red color of the blood oranges and one-and-a-half cups of port wine make this marmalade a few shades darker than the norm. Meyer lemons add some additional sweetness. Shallot-Tarragon Jam. Get our Shallot-Tarragon Jam recipe. Fragrant Blueberry Jam. This recipe is as natural as it gets—finely grated apple peel is substituted for pectin so the only ingredients are blueberries, sugar, apple peel, and lemon juice.

Maybe marmalade? Fruit spreads are all deliciously similar, but they do have definite distinctions. According to the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University , jam, jelly, preserves, and marmalades are all made up of the same basic four ingredients: sweeteners such as can or beet sugar, corn syrup, or honey ; naturally occurring acid , pectin which can be swapped or even eliminated depending on the desired outcome ; and of course, fruit.

On one end of the sugar spectrum is jelly. Jelly is the smoothest and firmest type of fruit spread, being made solely from extracted fruit juice. Definitely jelly. The juice is then pressed through a fine mesh strainer to remove any pulp or seeds, resulting in a clear liquid. Juice is the heated and mixed with sugar, acid, and sometimes additional pectin some pectin occurs naturally to help it for that gel-like consistency.

The recipe is then cooked to make the chopped fruit pieces soft and spreadable.