Sea buckthorn jam: 10 recipes

Many popular names are very accurate and descriptive. Otherwise, these golden berries cannot be called sea buckthorn. They firmly clung to the branches, as if fused with them, stuck. The plant is known for its medicinal properties. The taste of berries is not as bright as that of raspberries and other plants popular in the country. But in most far-sighted people, 1-2 sea-buckthorn bushes necessarily grow in a corner near the fence. In the list of methods for harvesting berries for the winter, jam occupies a central place, second only to frozen fruits.

The sun on the branch

Sea buckthorn most of the year does not have a decorative appeal. Its branches are covered with thorns, the flowers are small and inconspicuous. They don’t need big petals and sweet nectar. The plant is pollinated by the wind, propagated by processes and seeds, which are transported over long distances by birds pecking juicy berries.

Only at the moment of ripening berries the branchy bush or small tree is transformed, as if ignited by a thousand little suns. From 1 plant receive up to 14-15 kg of sweet and sour berries that taste remotely reminiscent of pineapple. Narrow bicolor leaves emphasize the fruit look. Their front side is darker with specks, and the inside is silver. Because of their bright appearance during the fruiting period, sea buckthorn is called a “golden tree” in some regions.

The plant has been known since the Paleolithic. Its unique properties were gradually revealed, people began to grow it purposefully. The merit of breeders is considered to be the abundance of varieties and hybrids, among which there are species without thorns, resistant to typical diseases and pests, frost-resistant and easily tolerated by drought varieties. In terms of ripening, varieties also differ, being divided into early, middle and late. Many of them are regionalized and feel great in the central and northern regions of the country.

There are 2 main varieties: sea buckthorn and buckthorn. They grow along rivers and lakes, climb to a height of 2100 meters, are found in Altai, the Caucasus, Tibet, the Scandinavian countries.

The berries of the wild ancestor are sour-astringent. Cultural varieties have acquired greater sugar content and rich taste. Among the dessert types are especially popular:

• Beloved.
• Giant.
• Rouet.
• Muscovite.
• Moscow pineapple.
• Claudia
• Nizhny Novgorod sweet.
• Tenge.
• Solar.
• Altai.

It is these varieties that are most often used for the preparation of aromatic jam, which has therapeutic and prophylactic properties.

Composition and calorie content

The small berry watered by the sun contains:

• vitamins A, C, P, K, group B;
• flavonoids;
• coumarins;
• carotenoids;
• fructose;
• betaine;
• choline;
• tannins;
• organic acids;
• quercetin;
• magnesium;
• silicon;
• nickel;
• iron;
• molybdenum;
• manganese.

Gathering berries for jam, it is worthwhile to take a little time and harvesting leaves. They contain ascorbic, ursolic and oleanolic acids. The bark of branches is rich in serotonin, which affects processes in the nervous system and prevents the development of malignant tumors.

The calorie content of 100 g of berries is 82 kcal, but they are not eaten in buckets, most often limited to a small handful per day.

In cooking, berries are appreciated for their delicate taste with a slight acidity, they are made from them jams, jellies, compotes. To preserve the berries for the winter, they are frozen, wiped with sugar or make an amazing jam. The fruits of sea buckthorn and oil from them are widely used in medicine and cosmetology.

What is useful sea buckthorn jam

During cooking, B vitamins suffer a lot of damage, other elements lose only a small part of their benefits.And if you cook raw jam, rubbing berries with honey or sugar, then all the benefits will remain untouched. Such preparations must be stored only in the refrigerator on a shelf for vegetables.

Berries and juice have a complex effect on the body. They are used to prevent vitamin deficiency and anemia, to restore strength after injuries and prolonged illnesses.

Sea buckthorn strengthens the walls of blood vessels, restoring their elasticity, stimulating the removal of toxins and normalizing blood pressure. Immunomodulating properties boost the rate of regeneration, the level of body resistance to viral and bacterial infections.

Interesting: Sea buckthorn is not recognized as official medicine, but it is recommended as a multivitamin complex for people employed in hazardous industries.

Juice, tincture of berries, a decoction of leaves has anti-inflammatory properties and is indicated for rinsing the throat and mouth with sore throat, stomatitis, gum disease.

Fruits help relieve the condition with colds, diabetes mellitus, ENT diseases and upper respiratory tract infections. Regular use of the product increases potency, protects against the appearance of prostatitis. A mild laxative effect is useful for hemorrhoids and a tendency to constipation. Antioxidant action can slow down the aging process, while maintaining skin elasticity and shine.

Most of the plant’s unique properties are preserved in jam, if a minimum temperature treatment is used in its preparation.

When and how to collect sea buckthorn for jam

The timing of collection depends on the purpose of the use of the fruit. For compote, jam, jam or fresh consumption, you need to go for berries in late August or early September. The berries at this time are quite dense, it is convenient to collect, transport and store them. The main criterion is color. It should be bright golden.

For juice and oil, you will have to wait a couple of weeks until the fruits acquire an orange glow. They will become soft, juicy, but they are no longer suitable for jam. Necessarily need an adjustment for the timing of bearing a certain variety.

It is better to collect it yourself, not hoping for a purchased product. Many sea buckthorn plantings are located along the roads, accumulating harmful emissions and heavy metals. Some unscrupulous sellers bring to the market a crop harvested in completely non-environmentally friendly places, and there will be no benefit from such an acquisition.

The berries of the plant are very small, fit tightly on the branches and picking them is not very convenient. There are two tasks: do not scratch the sharp thorns and do not crush the berries when harvesting. The first problem is solved easily. Varieties without spikes are selected or tight gloves are worn with cut off fingertips to maintain tactile sensations.

The second question is more complicated, but with a little resourcefulness and it has a solution. It is better to collect berries from the base of the branch to its edge, wearing an apron or old clothes, and install an inverted umbrella under the bush or spread a film. Thus, it will be possible to preserve the berries that have crumbled during the collection process.

You can speed up the process if you cut off the so-called “blind” branches along with berries with a secateurs. Their distinguishing feature is the absence of leaves at the tips. They will not give growth, they will dry out next season, and it is still necessary to thin out the bush. For mass gathering, special devices are used to help remove the berries from the branches.

After collection, it is advisable to immediately separate part of the berries for jam and not delay it for a long time.

How to cook sea buckthorn jam: recipes

The most useful harvesting option is fresh berry, mashed with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio.It is not boiled, but immediately placed in jars and stored in the refrigerator. But the harvest of sea buckthorn is rich and allows you to experiment enough, making on its basis several tasty and original goodies.

Classic version

The structure of the berries is very delicate and does not require long boiling. To prepare, take sea buckthorn and sugar in equal amounts, insist for several hours in a warm place to get the juice. The mass is cooked for 15 minutes and laid out on sterilized jars. Jam is resistant to external factors and is stored safely at room temperature.

With pumpkin

The specific oily smell of sea buckthorn quickly disappears when combined with other ingredients. Pumpkin is universal in application, it is easy to prepare a dietary soup, side dish and dessert from it. In the latter case, orange varieties with a sweeter pulp are taken, such as Michurinskaya, Orange honey, Novelty, Muscat.

For 2 kg of already peeled pumpkin slices, you need 300 g of berries and 1 kg of sugar. If the juice is not enough, the addition of 250 ml of water is allowed. First, boil the syrup, then carefully place the sea-buckthorn into the boiling liquid, then pumpkin cubes are lowered. The mass is cooked until the pumpkin pieces are ready. They will become soft and almost transparent. The delicacy is stored only in hermetically sealed jars.

With oranges

With the addition of citrus, the immunostimulating and antibacterial effect of both components is enhanced. 2-3 tablespoons of jam are able to relieve chills, relieve a febrile state, give the body strength to fight an upcoming cold.

Dessert is simple. For it, take 300 g of granulated sugar and berries and 1 large orange. Prepared with juice or whole slices along with peel. In both cases, the berries are pre-filled with sugar for 2-3 hours, then boiled. In the first case, freshly squeezed juice is poured into a boiling mass 3-5 minutes before being cooked. In the second, thin slices of orange, cut together with the peel, are placed in a container after boiling berries with syrup and boiled over low heat until the crusts are soft. On average, it will take 40 minutes with a single cooking.

With apple

For cooking, you need 2 kg of sugar and sea buckthorn. Apple take 1 kg more. This is not a jam in the strict sense of the word, but more like jam, as the ingredients are crushed. The berries are wiped, seeds and cake are removed from them. Apples are driven through a meat grinder. Having combined all the components, put them on a slow fire in a thick-walled vessel.

It is worth considering: For making jam, a thick-bottomed pan or a special basin made of stainless steel, Teflon, ceramics, glass is best suited. In enameled dishes, the sweet mass burns quickly.

Jam is boiled for 20 minutes with constant stirring. It is immediately laid out in storage containers. As it cools, it thickens.

Jelly with viburnum

This dessert has a peculiar taste with a slight bitterness. Viburnum is valued as a stabilizer of pressure, sugar and cholesterol. The berry is very useful for people with cardiovascular diseases, with a strong slagging of the body. It is indispensable for those who regularly experience prolonged stress, have a weak nervous system and are prone to frequent colds. But not everyone will dare to eat fresh viburnum. The combination with sugar and honey also slightly improves its taste. But in conjunction with sea buckthorn and with a little heat treatment, a completely different option is obtained.

The recipe uses only berry juice at the rate of 150 ml of viburnum per 1 liter of sea buckthorn, 1 kg of granulated sugar and a bag of gelatin. Juice with sugar is boiled until the volume decreases three times. Then pre-soaked gelatin is added to the finished mass, heated, not allowing boiling, and laid out in jars.

With nut

To prepare the berries, they will have to be carefully separated from the vegetable debris obtained during the harvest. To speed up the process, the berries are laid out in a wide basin and filled with water. All sticks and leaves quickly pop up. It remains to catch them with a colander or slotted spoon until they are saturated with moisture and again sink to the bottom.

Washed and slightly dried berries are covered with sugar in a ratio of 1: 1. They are allowed to stand for 1.5–2 hours and boil for 10 minutes. After cooling, add 1 cup of peeled walnuts to the mass and bring to a boil again, keeping them for 15 minutes until tender.

The recipe has complete freedom of action. You can grind the berries first by selecting the seeds or leave them whole. Nuts are also boiled in slices or halves. They are allowed to be replaced with hazelnuts or cedar kernels. In any case, it’s just a delicious dessert.

From frozen sea buckthorn

The berry perfectly tolerates freezing, without losing the basic qualities. If the harvest is so plentiful that part of it could not be processed immediately, or the invasion of guests is coming and you want to treat them with something unusual, then frozen sea buckthorn will come in handy. For dessert you will need;

• sea ​​buckthorn - 500 g;
• granulated sugar - 750 g;
• water - 1 cup.

You do not need to defrost berries specially. Syrup is boiled, boiled until sugar crystals are completely dissolved. Berries are poured there, leave the mass for 4 hours. Then the pan is again placed on a slow fire and cooked until cooked. It is checked by a drop on a saucer. If it does not creep, then you can pour the treat into a jar or immediately distribute it to the vases.

Honey treat

For 1 glass of fresh berries you will need 130 g of any honey. For a more saturated color, it is better to take buckwheat or sunflower. Juice is squeezed from the berries, honey is heated to 40 degrees in a water bath.

Important: the recipe does not provide for boiling, otherwise honey will lose all its beneficial properties.

The ingredients are mixed, the mass is laid out in dry sterilized jars and left to stand for 1 hour in a warm place, then put in the refrigerator.

Sea buckthorn with ginger

Only fresh products are needed for cooking, no dried or frozen ingredients. Then the jam will turn out to be truly healing. 750 g of sea buckthorn will need 1 kg of sugar, 3 tbsp. spoons of fresh ginger shavings and half a glass of water. In a separate pan, boil the syrup, add ginger chips and simmer for 10 minutes. Then lay the berries and boil the mass for another 20 minutes with continuous stirring. You can’t leave dessert unattended, it will burn immediately. If you need a more concentrated jam, you will have to cool the mass, and then put it on the stove again, bringing to the desired condition.

In the oven

The cooking method significantly saves time and effort. The mixture is prepared according to the classic recipe in a ratio of 1: 1 berries and sugar. A glass of water is added, the mass is mixed once more and laid out in a container with high sides, evenly distributed. Cooking time - 1 hour with periodic monitoring and stirring. The dessert is thick and very fragrant, standing in a hot oven.

Interesting facts about sea buckthorn

1. Shrubs are used as reinforcing plantings, fixing the slopes of ravines and high banks of water bodies.
2. From an adult bush in the harvest year receive up to 15 kg of berries.
3. The healing properties of fruits were used as early as 2 millennium BC.
4. In China, the plant is cultivated on an industrial scale.
5. Breeders bred varieties and hybrids without thorns.
6. The berries contain more than 190 nutrients.
7. Serotonin, called the hormone of happiness, is present in the cortex. Its concentration is 100 times higher than in bananas.
8. The plant is able to tolerate prolonged frosts up to -45 degrees.
9. Sea buckthorn oil has a wide spectrum of action, having anti-inflammatory, regenerating, antibacterial action.
10. Regular consumption of fruits can significantly slow down the aging process.

Sea buckthorn jam will decorate any celebration or a quiet family evening, giving strength to resist seasonal diseases.

Photo of sea buckthorn jam