Special Requirement Preserves

Any of the Jams and Jellies on this site can be adapted for those who need to reduce their sugar levels. These low sugar jams make a great alternative for those who need to reduce their sugar intake, though. There are a few considerations and differences, though. Diabetic jams are OK for some, but not for others. If you are either diabetic or on a diet you will probably be looking to keep your sugar levels down. Eating too much jam will be a problem with its high sugar content. A small amount may be OK within the confines of your diet. If in doubt check with your dietician or doctor. Remember that even though these are reduced in sugar the fruit itself when cooked has a higher level of sugar so please check with your own diet method and keep your jam/jelly allowances within that. Another alternative would be to make a fruit butter instead as this uses much less sugar anyway. Update and Warning: When I wrote this originally it was with both myself when on a diet and my sister who is diabetic in mind. Since then my sister's condition has become worse and she can no longer safely have any jams even reduced. There might be a point where she can have a very tiny amount but it is dangerous. The reduced sugar here would be no good for someone whose condition is that bad. Please always check. How To Use Sugar Substitutes to Reduce Sugar Levels When Making Your Jam You can use some of the sugar substitutes on the market to cook your jams and jellies. Not all can be used for cooking though so you need to check which ones are suitable. I have checked on one and that is Splenda. No particular reason other than it looked the most like sugar. This can be used to cook with and can be used when you are jam making. I phoned them up to check the details and the person I spoke to was really very helpful. So I can put here what they advised for their product. This is specific to Splenda so other substitutes may vary. The differences As sugar acts as a preserve a jam or jelly made with a substitute will not last as long and unlike jams made with sugar, can only be stored up to one month. I recommend you freeze any additional fruit and only use it when you want it. The texture and consistency is also different so this needs to be taken into account when creating the jam and the amounts will vary. The jam will be a soft jam (ie will not set so hard) due to the different consistencies of the substitute to sugar. How to Convert Sugar Amounts to Splenda This list is Reproduced by kind permission of Splenda and only for personal use. You can also visit their site for measures and recipes. Splenda is at 15ml per table spoon 25g (1oz) of sugar = 2 tablespoons Splenda 50g (2oz) of sugar = 4 tablespoons 75g (3oz) of sugar = 6 tablespoons 100g (4oz) of sugar = 8 tablespoons So for example the easy blackcurrant jam would convert to 500g (20oz) of sugar = 40 tablespoons of Splenda

Fruity Preserves

Category: Special Requirement Preserves