For those of you who 100% cranberry anything is a little…much, this cranberry raspberry jam is just for you. With cranberries and raspberries plus apple juice, it tastes like my favorite Cran-Raspberry juice but in jam form.
Very easy to make, this jam is perfect to serve at your Thanksgiving table, either in place of or in addition to your favorite cranberry sauce.
For ease of browsing, you can find all my condiment and jam recipes in one place. Now let’s get to it.
If you love cranberries, you may also enjoy my cranberry ketchup, cranberry fool recipe, and no-bake orange cranberry cheesecake parfaits.
Cranberry Raspberry Jam, At a Glance
✔️Skill Level: Beginner
✔️Skills: Boiling and Mashing Fruit
✔️Type: Jam
✔️Number of Ingredients: 8
✔️Prep Time: 5 minutes
✔️Cook Time: 10-15 minutes
✔️Yield: 20 oz of jam, or 2 8 oz jars and 1 4 oz jar
Jump Straight to the Recipe
What Makes This Jam So Good?
The ratio of three parts cranberries to one part raspberries makes this jam decidedly cranberry-y, but the raspberry also comes through really nicely on the back end. There is enough sugar to sweeten the mix without taking away the tart goodness that is cranberry jam.
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The hint of cinnamon speaks of the holidays while the lime juice and vanilla add a little acid and a sweet, creamy finish, respectively.
Using apple juice as the liquid not only lends more fruity flavor and some natural sugars, but the combination of cranberry, raspberry, and apple is reminiscent of my favorite Ocean Spray drink: Cran-Raspberry.
This jam tastes like that drink but in jam form.
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How to Make Cran-Raspberry Jam
This is a straightforward jam to make. If you don’t need any help with the instructions, you can jump straight to the recipe.
Otherwise, read on, and I’ll go over all the ingredients and give substitutions where appropriate.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- cranberries: Fresh cranberries are the main ingredient. Wash them well and get rid of any weird, wrinkled ones. No need to dry them off
- raspberries: You can leave the raspberries out and use all cranberry or replace the raspberries with strawberries, blueberries, or even pomegranate arils
- apple juice: This is the liquid for cooking the fruit in. I chose it because it’s also the base for cran-raspberry juice, which I love. It also adds a bit of sugar and sweet, apple flavor. You can substitute orange juice or even plain water
- granulated sugar: Cranberries and raspberries are both pretty tart, so this recipe requires a fair amount of sugar. Even so, it’s not as sweet as some recipes that can call for equal parts sugar to fruit. Granulated sugar provides sweetness and also goes into solution with the fruit juices to lend body
- brown sugar: You can use all granulated sugar if you like. I love brown sugar, though, so it needed to make an appearance in this jam. The molasses lends a tiny bit of flavor, but if you don’t have any brown sugar, no need to make a special trip to the store
- cinnamon stick: Provides some warm, sweet spice in the background. The recipe doesn’t call for a lot, but season to taste. You could also add star anise, whole allspice and/or a couple of cloves, depending on what spices you enjoy. I used 2 whole cinnamon sticks, but my cinnamon is from the Pleistocene era and doesn’t have a ton of flavor. If you have freshly bought cinnamon sticks, use 1/2-1 stick of cinnamon
- lime juice: A little acid helps to balance out a fruit jam. Honestly, the fruit is so tart, it might not strictly be necessary for this particular jam, but a little citrus is always welcome. I prefer to use lime for red and purple fruit and lemon for yellow and orange fruit
- vanilla extract: Added off the heat, the vanilla adds a creamy warmth to the finish of the jam. You could also use a touch of almond or hazelnut extract if you have it and/or if you prefer
Procedure
Making jam is a pretty straightforward process.
Since cranberries are literally packed with pectin, there is no need to add extra.
If you only cook your fruit for a few minutes, until the berries pop, you’ll have a beautiful cranberry sauce. Keep cooking to concentrate all that pectin, and you’ll have a perfect jam after only about 10-12 minutes of cooking.
- Put all the ingredients except for the vanilla in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Bring everything to a boil and skim off any weird foamy stuff that rises to the surface. That foamy stuff is just a bunch of air bubbles caught in proteins, and skimming them off allows the jam to keep longer (by limiting oxygen) and to have a better texture
- If you want, mash the berries with a potato masher to make a smoother texture
- You’ll know your jam is done when it slides off the spoon in sheets rather than drips. If you have an instant-read thermometer, you’re shooting for about 220F.
Jenni Says: For a smoother jam, when it’s done cooking, run it through a food mill with the medium die in place. that will get rid of most of the seeds and the peels from the cranberries. NOTE you will end up with less jam, but it will be smooth.
This is the food mill I have, use often, and really love.
The OXO food mill is well-made, easy to use, easy to clean, and dishwasher safe (I wash all the parts in the dishwasher except the grinding discs). Speaking of, it comes with 3 discs for fine, medium and coarse. There is no better tool for getting a consistent texture and also removing skins and seeds without having to peel or core anything before hand.
Serving Suggestions
You should 100% serve this jam at your holiday table. I think it would be lovely to set a 2 oz jar at everyone’s place. That way nobody is waiting for jam or has to yell, “Pass the cranberries!”
Add a few dollops to your turkey shepherd’s pie and serve it alongside potato stuffing waffles.
Of course, it’s great spread on dinner rolls, biscuits, or croissants or as a condiment for your leftover turkey sandwich.
Cran-Raspberry Jam Q & A
There really is no need. There is plenty of pectin in cranberries, and your jam will set up beautifully. Cook for only 5 minutes for a sauce consistency, or cook for up to 12-15 minutes for a firmer, more concentrated jam.
In the fridge, this jam will keep for about 4 weeks. It may not last that long though.
I am not a canner, but if you are, this jam should be safe to can. To be extra safe, you may want to increase the sugar by an ounce as well as add a bit more lime juice. Check the Ball Blue Book for safety guidelines.
Other Tasty Jam Recipes
If you’re a fan of jam I have sweet and savory jams you may enjoy.
For a lovely summer jam, it’s hard to beat the combination of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries in my mixed berry jam.
Figs make a lovely jam, and I have a sweet vanilla fig jam as well as a more savory fig jam you might really love.
Or veering into the super savory side of things, try my bacon jam and onion jam recipes.
For another gorgeous cranberry jam, try my friend Beth’s cranberry orange jam. It’s lovely.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
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Cran-Raspberry Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 oz cranberries 340 grams or 3 cups
- 4 oz raspberries 113 grams or 1 cup
- 8 oz apple juice 227 grams or 1 cup
- 4 oz brown sugar 113 grams or 1/2 cup, well-packed
- 6 oz granulated sugar 170 grams or about 3/4 cup
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice 14 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients except the vanilla in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Keep the jam at a slow boil, and skim off any of the foam that bubbles up.
- Once the cranberries have softened and popped, use a potato masher to smash the berries right in the pan.
- Continue to cook for a total of 10-15 minutes, until the mixture falls off a spoon in a sheet rather than in drips or streams. Stir in the vanilla extract off the heat.
- Pour into a clean jar or jars and put lids on. Allow to cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. This recipe makes enough to fill 2 8-oz jars and 1 4 oz jar.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Yield
You will end up with about 3 8-oz jars if you boil long enough to make sauce. If you boil it longer for jam, you’ll get 2 8-oz jars plus another 4 oz jar. Nutritional information is based on 2 Tablespoons of jam and not sauce.Storing
Keep in the fridge and use within a month.Nutrition
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