No-Cook Viburnum Jam for Winter
A dessert and a winter remedy in one—no-cook viburnum jam. This sweet jam is wonderful with tea, and it doubles as a natural tonic: viburnum (kalina) berries are a folk go-to for fighting off colds and easing other complaints like high blood pressure and hardened arteries. Because this simple recipe skips any cooking, the berries hold on to every bit of their goodness.
Spoon it over a slice of fresh bread alongside tea, stir it into compotes, use it to fill pastries (if you've strained out the seeds), or just eat it straight from the spoon—especially handy when you're low on vitamins.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
Since this quick, no-cook ("raw") viburnum jam comes together fast, I started by sterilizing the jars and lids first thing, so they'd have plenty of time to dry completely.
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Step 2:
However you got your viburnum—store-bought or hand-picked—give it a good wash. Swishing it in a bowl under running water works well, since anything that doesn't belong floats right to the top. Just don't let the berries soak for long.
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Step 3:
Once the water has drained off, carefully pull each berry from its stem. Try to leave the twigs behind, though a stray one or two won't hurt—every part of viburnum has value.
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Step 4:
I rinsed the berries once more, since a few bits of stem had slipped through the first time. Now decide how you want it: cooked or no-cook, with the seeds left in or strained out. I went with no-cook but kept the seeds. So, with the berries dried off, I worked them in batches (about half at a time) in the blender.
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Step 5:
To save myself the trouble of dissolving the sugar later, I added it right to the blender too. Pulse in short bursts. Do the same with the second batch of berries and sugar, blending until the sugar is fully dissolved. No blender? A meat grinder works.
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Step 6:
And here's the gorgeous, fragrant mixture I ended up with.
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Step 7:
Are your jars bone-dry, with no moisture or condensation inside? Spoon the jam in. You can use either plastic snap-on lids or screw-on ones—it makes no difference here, since this kind of jam has to be kept in the refrigerator. By the way, this batch filled two 350-gram (about 12-oz) jars for me.
- A few more tips: you can also cook this jam in two short rounds—5 minutes each—and then seal it hot. If you'd like it to keep longer, stir in another 200 grams (about 1 cup) of sugar; better yet, instead of mixing it in, leave a little headroom in the jar and pour the sugar right on top of the jam. If you'd rather not have seeds, scald the berries with boiling water, then press them through a sieve into a purée before combining with sugar. For a cooked version, simmer the purée together with the sugar and a little water—say, 50–60 ml (about 1/4 cup) for this amount. Viburnum jam is also lovely made with other berries and fruits mixed in.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Kalina - 26 kcal/100g
- Granulated sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sugar - 398 kcal/100g
