Any jam, even the most delicious, can “candied”, that is, become hard and partially lose its taste. This happens for various reasons - long-term storage, excess sugar during cooking, or kept on fire for too long. Whatever it is, if you already have candied jam, it’s too late to find out the reasons; you need to think about what you can do with it.

In any case, you shouldn’t throw away candied jam, but you can make a wonderful dessert, a delicious, aromatic pie and many other dishes from it. You just need to make sure that the jam itself has not spoiled, but only become thicker.

What to do with candied jam - recipe

If you don't know what to make with candied jam, make a dessert. It will take you only 35 minutes (of which 15 minutes are for preparing the ingredients and 20 minutes for baking). You will need (in addition to the candied jam itself) for the dough: two eggs, one glass of sugar, a pack of margarine, a pinch of soda and three glasses of flour. If desired, you can add half a teaspoon of vanillin. A glass of candied jam is needed.

For the dough, beat sugar and egg. Add soft margarine, flour, soda, mix everything. Make sure that the dough is plastic and comes away from your fingers, so you can add flour if necessary until you get the dough of the required consistency. As soon as the dough begins to stick from your fingers, enough flour. Place a third of the dough in the freezer. Roll out the rest of the dough to 1 cm - 0.7 cm thick per sheet. The sheet needs to be covered with foil, since the finished baked goods will need to be cut hot on the sheet.

The filling, as you may have guessed, will be candied jam. It needs to be distributed evenly over the sheet of dough. Be careful - you also need to put filling on the edges. It is not necessary to make sides; the candied jam will not leak out. Any candied jam will do: sour, sweet - whatever you have on hand.

We take out the third part of the dough from the freezer, which should have already hardened. We grate this piece so that the “sawdust” is distributed evenly over the filling. Bake the pie with candied jam at 180 °C (350 F) for 20 minutes until the dough is golden brown. Cut the sheet hot into diamonds (squares) and transfer to a plate to cool.

The jam is candied, what should I do?

Sometimes it happens that you have prepared a lot of jam or berry syrup, and some of it has become candied. This happens because you overcooked the fresh jam or put extra sugar in it, or it simply sat for a long time after cooking. Of course, no one will throw it away, because this can be easily fixed. Experienced housewives add candied jam to the dough to make mock honey cakes, make compotes and wine from it, prepare jelly, and add it to curd filling.

But many people have a question: is it possible to revive jam or syrup by making it liquid again. After all, most people like this liquid consistency. It turns out that it is possible. To do this, heat the syrup or jam in a pan of water or in the microwave and melt it.

However, remember that jam that has already been candied once and you have heated it will not remain liquid for a long time. Therefore, after resuscitating such jam, try to use it as quickly as possible.

Surely it has happened to every housewife that conservation and preparations did not turn out the way we would like. For example, you can open a jar jam for tea, and it turns out that you won’t be able to scoop up this jam with a spoon or spread it on a crispy bun. The jam has become candied. There are 2 options - “reanimate” the jam and use it as is.

There are two ways to make an edible product from candied jam:

1. Add water at the rate of 1/4-1/2 cup per liter of jam and boil for 3-5 minutes. Pour hot jam into jars and roll up.
2. Place the jars of candied jam in a saucepan with water and heat until the sugar dissolves.

“Remade” jam should be eaten as quickly as possible. You can also make compote from candied jam, make pie filling and pies.

Very thick jam can make a good marshmallow. To do this, transfer it to a saucepan. Place the container on low heat. You can add more powdered sugar to the jam to make it even more viscous during the heating process. Line a baking tray with baking paper and lightly grease with vegetable oil. Spread the fruit mixture in an even layer about 5mm thick and place in the oven overnight, leaving the door slightly ajar. The temperature for drying should be 60-80°C.

Cut the finished marshmallow into strips, roll in powdered sugar and store in paper bags or glass containers.

Candied jam is considered the result of non-compliance with the technology for preparing the sweet-fruit mass or a long period of storage. Today we will share culinary “tricks” for resuscitating a delicious and aromatic dessert.

Jam is a delicious product with a pleasant fruity aroma. It can be consumed in its pure form, added to tea, or used as one of the main ingredients for baking. Over time, the sweet mass may become covered with sugar crystals - the jam has become candied. The taste of the product has changed accordingly.

The first reason for the appearance of white crystals in a jar of fruit mass is said to be non-compliance with the technology for preparing the product. Thus, a large amount of honey or granulated sugar leads to the formation of sugar crystals. However, if the amount of this ingredient is significantly reduced, mold may appear in the dessert jar.

Forgot to tightly close the jar with a lid? Have you eaten a sweet fruit mass and left a spoon in the jar? Unfortunately, violation of simple storage recommendations and failure to comply with food hygiene rules lead to food spoilage. To ensure that the jam retains its taste and aroma for a long period, store it in the refrigerator. Don't forget to seal the container tightly.

Video “How to fix candied jam”

In this video, the chef will tell you how to fix candied jam.

How to revive dessert

If the jam has become candied, do not rush to throw away the contents of the jar. Let's figure out what to do with jam that has been candied.

Wine

Let's try to make delicious homemade wine. During the preparation process you will need 1 liter of sweet berry-fruit mass, 1 liter of purified drinking water and 50 g of raisins.

1. Melt the candied mass in the microwave or in a water bath. Pour the jam into the prepared 3 liter jar.
2. Add raisins.
3. Boil the water. Pour boiling water into a container with raisins and berry-fruit mixture.
4. Close the jar tightly. Move it to a dark and cool place.
5. After 12-14 days, strain the liquid. Wash the jar thoroughly and pour the strained wort into it.
6. Instead of a cap, use a medical rubber glove that will fill with gas.
7. Place the container in a dark and cool place. When the glove “deflates,” strain and bottle the wine.

You will be able to drink the drink in 1-1.5 months.

Bakery

Baking can correct the situation with candied jam. To bake a delicious fruitcake, prepare:

• candied fruit and berry mass - 1 cup;
• flour - 2 cups;
• soda - 1 tsp;
• lemon juice;
• eggs - 2 pcs.;
• a pinch of salt and powdered sugar for sprinkling.

Beat eggs with salt. Add soda slaked with citric acid. Pour in the melted jam and mix thoroughly. Pour in the flour sifted through a sieve. Mix the dough well. The consistency of the dough ready for baking should be similar to sour cream.

Grease a muffin pan with vegetable oil and sprinkle with semolina or flour. Pour the dough into the mold and place in the oven. Cake baking time is 50 minutes. You can check the degree of readiness with a toothpick or skewer.

How to prevent sugaring

Maintaining the proportions of all ingredients helps avoid sugaring the jam. Cooking any dish by eye has certain risks.

The amount of honey or granulated sugar is selected taking into account the degree of acidity of berries and fruits. Thus, raspberries, blackberries, currants, cherries and other sour fruits and berries require more glucose. In this case, the amount of sugar should not exceed the amount of berries and fruits.

According to experienced cooks, it is recommended to use the “intermittent cooking” method when making jam. Place the container on the fire and bring its contents to a boil. Boil the dish for 10-20 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and let the syrup cool. Repeat the procedure several times, but do not forget to monitor the transparency of the berries and fruits. If they darken or become cloudy, the jam is overcooked.

Berries and chopped fruits should be transparent in appearance. It’s easy to check if a dish is ready: drop a small amount of syrup onto a plate and take a closer look at its consistency. If the syrup spreads, the jam needs to be cooked further.

A drop of syrup that does not float and retains its shape indicates the dish is ready.

Many novice cooks wonder if there is anything they can do to prevent the jam from becoming sugary in the jar. At the end of cooking, add starch syrup to the syrup (approximately 150-200 g per 1 kg of unprocessed berries or fruits). Citric acid will help avoid the appearance of sugary plaque. Dissolve 4-5 g of citric acid in 50 ml of hot water, add the mixture to the jam at the end of the cooking procedure.