Bake the Book
2012104-bakethebook-cranberry-champagne-jam.jpg

[Photograph: Steve Legato]

It's not often that you can call a jam 'classy,' but adding champagne makes that possible. Ginger adds a warm layer to a tart-sweet jam that's delicious in myriad applications.

Reprinted with permission from Edible DIY: Simple, Giftable Recipes to Savor and Share by Lucy Baker. Copyright © 2012. Published by Running Press. Available wherever books are sold. All rights reserved.

About This Recipe

Yield: Makes about 6 cups or 6 half-pint jars
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries (about 3 cups)
  • 2 cups Champagne or other sparkling wine
  • 1 (1 3/4 ounce) package regular powdered fruit pectin
  • 1/4 teaspoon butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
  • 4 1/2 cups sugar

Procedures

  1. Pulse the cranberries in a food processor until they are coarsely chopped. Transfer them to a large, heavy-bottomed pot and add the Champagne. Bring them to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the cranberries have softened, about 10 minutes.

  2. Sprinkle the pectin over the cranberry mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the butter. Return the mixture to a boil. Add the dried cranberries, the crystallized ginger, and then the sugar all at once.

  3. Return the mixture to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute.

  4. Remove the pot from the heat and skim any foam from the surface of the jam. Ladle the hot jam into 6 hot, clean half-pint jars. To preserve the jam, process the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. The preserved jam will keep for up to a year on the shelf. Otherwise, store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.