Peppermint jam: 7 recipes

The herbs used for the preparation of various tinctures and canned stocks give the workpieces excellent properties. Since ancient times, many people have recognized the full benefits of peppermint, lemon balm, linden, and other herbs that have a significant effect on the entire human body and its immune system. In this article, we’ll tell you how to make tasty, aromatic mint jam, about its beneficial properties, as well as what additional ingredients can be added to this sweet treat.

Composition and calorie content

To begin with, I want to talk about the composition of mint jam and its calorie content. As in any other jam, the main ingredient here is sugar, which in quantity is taken much more than the leaves of the plant. For example, if peppermint is taken 400 g, then sugar must be taken at least 1 kg. It turns out that granulated sugar needs 2 times more mint. Thus, the following indicators come out per 100 g of product:

• proteins - 0.79%;
• fats - 0.18%;
• carbohydrates - 23.33%;
• calorie content - 207.4 kcal.

As can be seen from the above list, the calorie content of mint jam is quite high, which does not allow people who are on diets to consume it. Therefore, it is worth saying that lovers of sweets and fans of diets can still use this delicacy only in small quantities, about 1 teaspoon per day. To reduce calorie content, it is necessary to reduce the amount of sugar, but if this is done, then the jam will not work out the desired thick consistency, it will turn out to be unappetizing. Thus, this dessert is recommended to be used exclusively for medicinal purposes and to strengthen the body's immune system in a small amount.

What is useful mint jam

Peppermint is a very valuable plant that helps to overcome and prevent a large list of diseases. In modern times, peppermint is an excellent sedative. However, at the time of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, it was a real healing plant that contributed to longevity and good health. Using some composition based on mint or just drinking tea with mint every morning, you could forget about various ailments and feel cheerful and fresh.

Now peppermint is used both as a pharmacological concentrate and as a wonderful healing essential oil.

As you know, there are about 25 species of mint. All of them are absolutely identical in aroma and useful properties. Therefore, for the preparation of jam, you can use absolutely any weed.

Let's talk about the beneficial properties of mint jam:

1. The very first property is soothing. Jam from such a plant helps fight various types of depressions, apathy, calms the nervous system during various breakdowns, restores strength, and prevents headaches.
2. Also, mint jam normalizes blood pressure, dilates the vessels of the brain.
3. The use of such a dessert before bedtime helps to overcome insomnia.

The main advantage of mint jam is that when boiled, the plant retains all useful vitamins for a long time and can be stored under a metal lid all year.

Peppermint jam is very useful for women, it prevents premature aging, prolongs youth. From the systematic use of such a dessert, the skin of women becomes smooth, silky.

Also, such a dessert helps to relax perfectly after a difficult, long working day.Just a few spoons of such a treat with tea - and immediately you feel a sense of vitality and lightness. This is especially true for people with mental disabilities.

Harm and contraindications

Of course, like any jam, the mint dessert also has its drawbacks:

1. Dessert in large quantities is contraindicated in men. Some substances contained in mint have a bad effect on the male reproductive system, which subsequently reduces sexual excitability.
2. A huge minus of mint is its sedative and vasodilator property, because of which it is not recommended for use by people with diseases of the heart system.
3. Pregnant women also should not use a lot of mint jam, since this plant is estrogen-containing and can cause premature birth.

From all the pros and cons described above, we can conclude that mint jam is recommended to be used exclusively by women. It is definitely worth preparing some jars of such a treat for yourself, especially since it does not require professional skills and a lot of time to prepare it, it is quite simple and easy to prepare. And the mint jam remaining by summer can also be used as a refreshing agent in the heat, making it a pleasant fruit drink.

When to pick mint for jam

Before you start making mint jam, you need to know when it is better to collect this plant so that the treat turns out to be really tasty, appetizing, with a pleasant and thick consistency. To do this, we give some tips:

1. It is better to make jam in the evening, and in the morning pour peppermint leaves with sugar so that they let juice out.
2. For jam, you need to use only fresh leaves of mint, ripped for the last three days. A fresh plant does not preserve vitamins for longer, although they can be preserved for a very long time if preserved. In addition, a dessert made from fresh leaves has a more pronounced aroma than from old ones.

For jam, mint can be harvested already in late June and early July, so you should not deal with other harvestings during this same period. The mint leaves are boiled very much during cooking, there is not much ready jam, so you should not tune in to the fact that the cellar is greatly replenished with sweet spins.

If some berries, for example, raspberries, currants, are added to the composition of mint jam, it is not recommended to wash them. You just need to sort them out of excess garbage - this is mandatory.

Rules for cooking mint jam

Many housewives often make a number of irreparable errors during cooking of any winter blanks, due to which the seals are poorly preserved and even explode. To avoid this, we will tell you a few rules for cooking such an unusual jam, so that the result is pleased:

1. In the case of boiling thick mint jam, do not stand for long syrup on the stove with the fire on. If the excess syrup is still left, it can simply be drained into the sink or in a separate cup and used in the future to soak cakes, pastries and other confectionery.
2. Before rolling the jam, it is necessary to rinse the lids with boiling water and rinse the cans (first with soda solution, then with ordinary clean water) and dry on a towel.
3. Mint is very similar to lemon balm, so sometimes when mixed, this plant is added mixed. In this case, you need to be extremely careful so as not to overdo it with lemon balm and put exactly as much as is required to achieve the desired result. If you add too much, the jam will be too spicy, with an unpleasant aftertaste.

How to cook peppermint jam: recipes

Now we’ll present a list of the most relevant recipes for mint jam available to every woman and describe in detail the step-by-step cooking instructions. Recipes, in fact, not complicated, consist of inexpensive ingredients. It is only necessary to stock up on several branches of this wonderful plant.

Classic Mint Jam Recipe

One of the easiest is the classic recipe.The composition includes only mint, sugar, a small amount of water and citric acid to give the finished dessert a persistent thick consistency and a pleasant acidity.

Ingredients:

• 450 g mint;
• 1.1 kg of sugar;
• 20 g of citric acid;
• 200 ml of water.

Step cooking

1. The leaves of the plant are separated from the branches, washed, stacked in a colander to remove water. Shifted onto a clean cloth, kept for several minutes to dry.
2. Fold the mint leaves in a metal container, pour 0.5 kg of sugar, alternating layers.
3. In a clean bowl, dilute citric acid in a small amount of water, pour into a container with mint.
4. Close the container with a lid, shake gently and leave for 6 hours to separate the juice.
5. Syrup is prepared, for this the remaining sugar is mixed with a glass of water and boiled for several minutes until slightly thickened.
6. The finished sugar syrup is slightly cooled, poured into a container with mint, left again for 6 hours under a lid.
7. After this time, the container is placed on the middle flame of the fire and boil for 7 minutes from the moment of boiling.
8. Hot jam is poured into sterile jars, rolled up under a metal lid, wrapped in a fur coat until completely cooled.

On a note! It is permissible to replace citric acid with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Mint Jam Recipe with Lemon

In the following recipe, not just citric acid, but lemons, cut into cubes with peel, are added to mint jam. Here, mint with citrus is boiled first without sugar, then insisted a little, the mixture is filtered and cooked with sugar for two hours. Thanks to this cooking, the jam is obtained with a beautiful light green tint and a pleasant delicate texture, similar to real jelly.

Ingredients:

• lemons - 3 pcs.;
• mint - 400 g;
• sugar - 1.6 kg;
• water - 600 ml.

Step by step cooking:

1. Mint leaves are washed in a colander, dried, finely chopped with a knife.
2. Rinse the lemons, also finely chopped with the peel, mix in a deep saucepan with mint.
3. Pour everything with water and boil over low heat after boiling for a quarter of an hour.
4. After cooking, the container with the contents is removed from the fire, closed with a lid and set aside for 1 day in heat.
5. After this, the liquid is filtered, the pulp of citrus and mint squeezed.
6. Sugar is poured into the resulting liquid, cooked after boiling for a couple of hours in a small flame.
7. Ready hot jam is poured into sterile containers, rolled up, cooled under a fur coat.

On a note! The number of lemons, if desired, can be taken less than indicated in the recipe.

Mint Jam Recipe with Cucumbers

A very interesting, even unexpected version of mint jam. Cucumbers in the composition further emphasize the green shade of the product, make it more pronounced, and the taste is refreshing, with notes of summer coolness.

Ingredients:

• cucumbers - 5 pcs.;
• sugar - 250 g;
• half a lemon;
• gelling mixture or ordinary jelly - 30 g;
• mint leaves - 300 g;
• water - 110 ml.

Step by step cooking:

1. The washed cucumbers are freed from the tips, cut into small slices.
2. Cucumbers are mixed with 150 g of sugar, set aside for 4 hours, covered with a towel.
3. Mint leaves are rinsed, dried, poured with water, brought to a boil in a medium flame. The mixture is removed from the stove, insist 25 minutes.
4. The cucumber mixture is placed on the middle flame of the fire and, after boiling, it is boiled for 25 minutes.
5. Mint leaves are crushed in a blender, draining the water.
6. In a clean cup, the gelling agent and 50 g of sugar are mixed.
7. At the end of cooking the cucumber mixture, add ground mint, gelling mixture, lemon juice from half a citrus, mix everything well and boil in a quiet flame for 10 minutes until thickening, often stirring.
8. Ready jam is allowed to cool and laid out on the banks, roll up.

On a note! During the grinding of mint in a blender, the broth can not be drained.

Mint with raspberry jam recipe

The next recipe is even easier than the previous ones. It does not require long infusion of mint leaves with the exception of raspberries and sugar. Leaves are simply added along with sprigs to raspberries and boiled for several minutes, then taken out of the jam.The delicacy takes on a pronounced sweetness, an interesting, red-green hue.

Ingredients:

• raspberries - 2 kg;
• kilogram of sugar;
• mint - 4 branches.

Step by step cooking:

1. The berries are sorted from the existing garbage, put in a saucepan.
2. The berries are filled with sugar, set aside to separate the juice for several hours.
3. The raspberries infused with sugar are ground in a blender.
4. Add sprigs of mint to the raspberry puree, after rinsing, drying, place the container on a quiet flame of fire and bring to a boil with frequent stirring.
5. After boiling the mass for several minutes, turn off the fire, take out the mint branches.
6. Jam is poured into clean containers, rolled up, sent under a fur coat for cooling.

On a note! During cooking, it is imperative to remove the emitting foam.

Strawberry Mint Jam Recipe

In addition to raspberries, mint can be boiled with strawberries. The cooking technology differs from the previous one in that the berries are not ground in a blender, boiled whole, and after mixing strawberries with sugar and mint, the mixture is insisted for 12 hours. The dessert is fragrant, very mouth-watering.

Ingredients:

• berry "Victoria" - 1 kg;
• sugar - 1.2 kg;
• mint - 300 g;
• lemon juice - 50 ml.

Step by step cooking:

1. The berries are sorted, the green part is separated, washed thoroughly in a colander, spread in a container with cold water and kept for 15 minutes.
2. Water is drained from the strawberries, washed again, laid out on a paper towel, left for several minutes to dry.
3. The berries are transferred to a saucepan, covered with sugar, lemon juice is poured, washed, dried sprigs of mint are added, the contents are slowly mixed, covered with a lid and left for 12 hours.
4. Place the container with the mixture in a quiet flame of fire and after boiling it is boiled for 15 minutes.
5. Turn off the fire, leave the mixture aside until it cools.
6. Again put on a quiet flame of fire, boil the same time and turn off the stove.
7. The finished treat is poured into cans, clogged with lids.

On a note! If the strawberries are very large, they can be cut into small pieces.

Mint Jam Recipe with Basil

This option is included in the list of “five minutes”, since it takes very little time to cook here, most of it is spent on insisting on the ingredients. It turns out such a yummy tender, sweet, with a beautiful rich color.

Ingredients:

• mint - 300 g;
• sugar - 500 g;
• fresh basil - 100 g;
• citric acid - 7 g;
• filtered water - 350 ml.

Step by step cooking:

1. Wash the mint, dry it, put it in a deep saucepan, fill it with half the norm of sugar.
2. All mix well, set aside for 6 hours.
3. Pouring is prepared: in a cup, water is mixed with the remaining sugar, boiled over low heat until the crystals dissolve.
4. Fill slightly cool, pour into mint, close the lid and insist another 6 hours.
5. Put the saucepan with the mixture on a quiet flame and cook after boiling for 8 minutes. After about 4 minutes, chopped basil is added.
6. After time, continue to cook another 5 minutes.
7. Hot jam is removed from the stove, left for 3 hours under the lid.
8. The cooled mixture is filtered, boiled again over medium heat and poured into cans, rolled up.

Advice! During the first cooking, be sure to mix the mass thoroughly so that it does not burn.

Peppermint Jam Recipe

In addition to various berries, mint jam can also include fruits. So, with the addition of pears, an amazing, delicate, piquant, sweet delicacy is obtained, for a long time remembering to taste. In addition to pears and mint, lime is added to the composition, giving a pronounced refreshing acidity. Strawberry makes the jam surprisingly beautiful, with a pronounced reddish tinge.

Ingredients:

• mint - 1 small bunch;
• strawberries - 300 g;
• pears - 5 pcs.;
• sugar - 2 kg;
• lime - 1 little thing.

Step by step cooking:

1. They wash the strawberries, free them from the green stalk, rinse the pears as well, cut out the core and places where there are darkening.
2. Cut strawberries, pears in small pieces, put in a deep saucepan, fill with sugar, leave for several hours to let the juice.
3. As soon as juice appears on the surface of the pear-strawberry mixture, the container is placed on a medium flame of fire and cooked for several minutes.
4. Rinse the lime, cut into several circles, take out the existing bones, peel the peel, grind the pulp in a blender.
5. Lime puree is poured into a saucepan with the mixture, mixed well, adjust the heat to the smallest and boiled for another 60 minutes.
6. Rinse the mint, dry it on paper napkins, remove the leaves from the twigs, grind them in a blender and transfer to jam.
7. After adding mint, the mass is boiled for another half hour and turn off the fire.
8. Give jam a little insist on the stove under the lid.
9. The glass containers are washed, sterilized in a steam bath for 2 minutes, allowed to dry and spread the jam.
10. Cork with metal lids, turning the top upside down, kept at room temperature until completely cooled and sent to the cellar for storage.

If desired, this jam can be prepared without adding strawberries, with only pears and mint, or you can replace this berry with strawberries.

Rules for storing mint jam

In fact, peppermint jam is considered an unpretentious dessert and does not require any favorable conditions for storage. Glass jars for such a treat can not be sterilized for a long time, just rinse them well with a soda solution and warm them in a water bath for a couple of minutes. Or you can simply steam the container slightly in the oven.

The rolled up mint jam can be perfectly preserved in a cool cellar or even in an ordinary closet, pantry of a city apartment. In a dry, ventilated room, peppermint jam, like, however, any other, can be stored for 1.5 to 3 years. In the same way, you can save not only pure mint jam, but also with the addition of raspberries and strawberries.

Interesting facts about mint

Peppermint is a very interesting plant with extremely beneficial properties for the human body. It found its popularity in traditional medicine and many other industries in ancient times. It is not strange, but at that time it was called by such unusual names as “digging”, “beige”. The excellent aroma of mint can not be confused with any plant. In various sources of information you can find a lot of interesting facts about mint, some of them are below:

1. Many people are madly in love with such a popular alcoholic drink as mojito, which includes mint. She gives it incredible freshness, coolness and a beautiful light green tint. Thanks to the presence of mint, mojito perfectly quenches thirst on sultry, hot days.
2. As already described above, mint is able to deal with different types of headaches. One has only to pick one leaf of this plant, feel its aroma, as soon as a feeling of calm, relaxation.
3. In ancient Rome, mint was often used by housewives to prepare various dishes; it was added as a fragrant spice, which gave any dish a delicious aroma that stimulates appetite. And also used in perfumes: women made different perfumes at home.
4. The oldest sources say that mint was known in the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. From this it follows that this plant was widely used even before our era.
5. Fragrant tea is allowed to be consumed by almost all people, without exception, even small children, but only in a less concentrated form due to the large amount of menthol substance contained in mint. Nevertheless, such tea should not be consumed by people suffering from chronic heartburn.
6. It is known that in the old days many people threw several sprigs of mint into a can to extend the shelf life of fresh milk. The milk remained fresh for several hours, did not turn sour or spoil.
7. Mint is an excellent remedy for various insects. If at home on a table to put in a vase several branches of mint, then flies, mosquitoes, wasps and bees will not fly into the room.
8. Another interesting old superstition: mint is a money plant, if you put a couple of leaves in your wallet, then money will always be found. But even if there is no money, then the pleasant aroma in the wallet will remain for a long time.