Homemade Organic Jelly, Jam, Preserves, and Fruit Spread in 10 Minutes

Follow these easy steps to make fresh, organic jelly, jam, preserves, or fruit spread in 10 minutes. No special equipment or exotic ingredients are required. For low carb, simply omit the sugar.

Basic Recipe:
¼ cup cold water
2 Tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 cup diced fruit (can leave whole if desired, but may not spread as well)

Place the sugar and corn starch into a glass jar, and stir with a spoon until it is well disbursed. Add the water, and stir until all lumps are dissolved. Add the fruit, and stir well again. Place the jar into the microwave, and cook on high for 10 minutes. Voila! You now have a jar of wholesome jam, preserves, or fruit spread. It keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or forever in the freezer. Re-cook in microwave to refresh the shelf life for another 2 weeks.

Use it hot on ice cream, pancakes, or waffles. Or allow it to cool for use with crackers or peanut butter and bread. Additionally, this basic recipe makes a perfect fruit spread to use when baking turnovers or other pastry requiring fruit.

Because the water content of fruit varies, it may be necessary to adjust the amount of water (increase or decrease as necessary). If you discover too late that your mixture contains too much water, simply microwave it for an extra few minutes to evaporate the excess liquid.

Omit the sugar if a low carb fruit spread is desired.

What's the difference between jelly, jam, preserves, and fruit spread?
Jelly contains no fruit particles. To make jelly, use fruit juice and triple the amount of corn starch. Stir it every 5 minutes while cooking to prevent lumping. Upon removal from the microwave, it should have the consistency of thick gravy or thicker. Let it cool completely before using.

Jam is similar to jelly, but contains some fruit particles. To make jam, replace the one cup of diced fruit with one cup of a combination of fruit juice and fruit particles, and use 2 to 3 tablespoons of corn starch. Stir every 5 minutes while cooking to prevent lumping.