Pine cone jam: 7 recipes

Jam from pine cones is still often perceived as exotic. Many people remember him only from the cartoons about Masha and the Bear, where the restless girl cooked jam from the most unusual ingredients, including a “bumpy” treat. Meanwhile, it is a delicious and very healthy dessert.

Composition and calorie content

The energy value of jam from pine cones is relatively small - it is only 180 kcal per 100 g, and this is much less than other treats, for example, made from berries. At the same time, pine cones, which serve as a protective shell for the seeds of this plant, contain many useful substances that are stored in jam. In this part of the plant, there are essential oils and aromatic substances, tannins, which give them a viscous taste, volatile, fatty oils, terpene compounds, etc.

The most beneficial components for health are volatile. Their very name, consisting of the Greek and Latin words "plant" and "kill", speaks of the mechanism of their action. They protect the plant by killing pathogenic microflora, not only bacteria, but also fungi. In particular, it has been proven that pine volatile herbicide destroys E. coli and Koch bacillus, which provokes tuberculosis, not to mention weaker pathogens. This is due to the beneficial role of pine cones in general and jam in particular, since phytoncides are still preserved during heat treatment.

Pine cone jam also contains the following vitamins and minerals:

1. Vitamins of group B. These are several different substances whose effect on the body can be called multifaceted. On the one hand, they normalize metabolic processes, on the other, they positively affect the cardiovascular system, and on the third, they are necessary for the normal functioning of the central nervous system. The B vitamins contained in this jam strengthen the vessels and relieve the increased anxiety that is so characteristic of a resident of a modern metropolis.
2. Carotene. It is useful for metabolic processes, and for blood vessels, but it is especially important that it provides good vision.
3. Vitamin K is involved in many vital biochemical processes, including that it is needed to strengthen bones and for normal blood coagulation.
4. Vitamin C. It is a strong antioxidant, a substance with anti-inflammatory properties. It partially collapses when cooking jam. But the amount that remains is enough for the body to resist infections, especially since ascorbic acid also has immunostimulating properties.
5. Vitamin E is also a fairly powerful antioxidant. It is often called beauty vitamin. Indeed, its properties allow you to maintain good skin condition, preventing its premature aging. It is also necessary for proper metabolism.

The vitamins contained in the pine cone jam alone are enough to maintain physical activity, increase stamina, improve cognitive abilities and fight various diseases. But jam also contains healthy minerals.

It should be mentioned, for example, aluminum and chromium, which are quite rare in plant products. The first has beneficial effects on the digestive tract, and is also good for the skin.Chromium is important for normalizing blood sugar. Jam also contains iron, the lack of which can lead to anemia and pathology of the thyroid gland. Finally, there is copper, which significantly improves the condition of the skin and hair. So pine jam from young cones has not only general strengthening properties. It can be called a delicacy of beauty.

What is pine jam cones useful for?

This dessert has a peculiar, but quite pleasant taste. In folk tradition, pine cones have always been used as a medicine. After years of research, modern official medicine has confirmed some of the properties that rumor attributed to cones and jam from them. It is currently believed to possess:

1. Antibacterial and antifungal properties. Thanks to the phytoncides mentioned above, jam helps to fight infection caused by various pathogenic microorganisms.
2. Antiviral properties. Substances contained in pine cone jam help the body provide decent resistance to the virus. Moreover, even its most unpleasant manifestations such as fever, chills, headache, runny nose and cough, this delicacy can at least soften, or even completely remove.
3. Toning and restorative effect. Any disease is easier to prevent than to cure. And this jam contains substances that strengthen the body, normalize all the most important biochemical processes, relieve chronic fatigue and drowsiness, improve the psycho-emotional state, eliminating anxiety and irritability.
4. Expectorant properties. This is very important for any diseases accompanied by wet cough. Mucus accumulating in the bronchi can aggravate the situation, lead to the development of negative consequences and complications. The use of pine jam allows you to get rid of sputum and avoid stagnant processes in the bronchi and lungs.
5. Vasoconstrictor properties. The use of this treat is very useful for normalizing the functioning of the heart muscle. By strengthening the walls and increasing the elasticity of the vessels, the risk of stroke is also reduced.
6. Analgesic properties. Studies have shown that jam has an analgesic effect, albeit not as pronounced as the finished products. Jam is recommended for pain in the joints. In addition, it is used for external compresses in order to deliver active substances to the affected areas as soon as possible.
7. Digestion-improving properties. This jam improves the functioning of the pancreas and stimulates intestinal motility, moreover, in a rather mild way, with practically no contraindications.
8. Antitumor effect. Recent studies have shown that a high content of antioxidants prevents the formation of malignant neoplasms.

Jam from pine cones is also used as a restorative after flu or a long infectious disease, since it has a beneficial effect on all body systems.

Fragrant and tasty pine cone jam, of course, cannot replace a full course of antibiotics for pneumonia or tuberculosis. But it is an important adjuvant that enhances the effect of drugs. At the same time, it can be used to treat almost any diseases of the respiratory system, regardless of whether they were caused by fungi, microbes or viruses. Bronchitis, pleurisy, bronchial asthma - in all these cases, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of jam a day can work wonders.

Jam has a slight diuretic effect.Unlike ready-made pharmaceutical preparations, it does not wash out useful substances from the body, but, on the contrary, makes up for their deficiency. In any case, this jam will help relieve swelling and even avoid venous stagnation. In addition, it normalizes the level of hemoglobin in the blood, which has a beneficial effect on the circulatory system as a whole.

Finally, as far back as the 18th century, studies found that cone jam is an anti-scaling agent. It helps to cope with inflammation and pain in the gums, which is the prevention of vitamin deficiency (although in those days there was not even a term like this, sailors and explorers in Siberia have already encountered this phenomenon).

Like the pine cones themselves, jam based on them enhances the production of gastric juice. This helps with gastritis with low acidity, but forces you to use dessert with caution in the presence of pancreatitis or peptic ulcer disease - even in remission.

Contraindications

It should be understood that, as for any other sweets, there are a number of contraindications and restrictions. For example, jam from pine cones is carefully given to children, as it can cause allergies.

This delicacy is contraindicated:

• in the presence of chronic kidney disease;
• acute form of hepatitis;
• hypersensitivity to its ingredients;
• diabetes mellitus;
• pregnancy and lactation.

Elderly people who often experience age-related disorders in the functioning of the kidneys and liver should also use this jam with caution.

If a person tries a treat for the first time, he needs to listen to his health. If there is discomfort in the stomach, a red rash appears, nasal congestion due to severe swelling, it is better to immediately abandon the jam and take an antihistamine, because all of the above symptoms indicate the presence of an allergic reaction.

How to choose cones for jam

Pine has two types of cones - male and female. The first are something like soft spikelets that appear on young shoots. In most species of pine, they have a yellowish or reddish color. But jam requires young female cones. They are usually small, with soft scales, and in almost all species of pine they are bright green (and then darken) or immediately have a brownish color. These cones do not need to attract the attention of insects for pollination. And they need such coloring in order to better absorb heat, under the influence of which the useful substances described above are formed in them.

It is very important that the cones meet certain quality requirements for such fruits. We need female cones, quite dense, covered with ribbed small scales, resinous. They should be small, green (most often a light brown shade indicates that they have already begun to harden, and jam from them will not work), without any defects. In no case should such fruits be disclosed. If they begin to unfold - that's all, it's too late to cook them or make tincture. The average size of the cones needed is 2.5–4 cm. The hardness of the cones needs to be checked. It is enough to prick the surface with a knife to understand how well it lends itself.

You need to collect them away from the tracks, in an ecologically clean area, otherwise the jam will not bring the desired benefits. And the pine trees themselves, from which these cones are collected, must be healthy - on such trees there should be no signs of rot, damage, the presence of any pests, browned needles, etc.

Theoretically, cones in the room can be stored for a long time, up to a year and a half, subject to good ventilation. But in order for the jam to turn out to be useful and tasty, you need to cook the freshly picked fruits, at most - they have lain for a couple of days.

When to collect

The hostess has literally two weeks of time to collect cones. You need to collect young cones, and in different climatic conditions they appear at different times. In central Russia, the optimal time is the end of June, in the more northern regions - the beginning of July.In the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory, you can collect fruits at the end of May.

How to cook jam from pine cones: recipes

Before you cook the jam, you need to prepare all the necessary components and choose the appropriate cooking method, since there are several popular options.

Classic pine cone jam

First you need to take a suitable container for cooking. It can be a basin or a pan. But enameled dishes for such jam are not suitable, you need to take aluminum, copper or stainless steel. It is desirable that the walls are thick enough, then sugar and jam will not burn.

It is also important to properly prepare the pine cones. They must be sorted out, because during the collection it is not always possible to consider the presence of defects. Then you must wash them in running water. But this is not enough, many housewives advise to soak the cones in cold water for several hours, so that it is easier to remove pop-up debris, sand and needles.

The finished pine jam should have a beautiful pinkish-brown color, you do not even need to add food colors to it. The taste of a properly prepared dessert should be honey-resinous.

In the preparation of jam in the classical way, there are generally accepted proportions - for 0.3 kg of pine cones they take 1 liter of purified water and 1 kg of granulated sugar. At the same time, jam can be prepared in several ways.

The first option is the easiest. To do this, washed cones are poured with water so that it is literally 1–2 cm higher than their level. After that, sugar is poured into the container, brought to a boil and kept on low heat for one and a half hours. During this time, the bumps become soft. Some housewives cook it in three steps, removing it half an hour after boiling, leaving it for an hour in a dark place, bringing it to a boil again, etc. In some recipes, the jam is boiled over low heat for an hour, covering a pot or basin with a lid, and then for 12 hours it is infused in a dark place before pouring into jars.

The second option - the cones will interfere with the finished syrup. They make jam like that. The cones are washed, then soaked. Meanwhile, the sugar is thrown into the water and the syrup is boiled, stirring constantly, and then the cones are thrown into it, brought to a boil over high heat and left on low for another hour.

The third option - the cones prepared as described above are boiled over high heat until they become soft. It takes about 20 minutes. After that, they are removed with a slotted spoon and temporarily set aside. In the meantime, they cool, prepare sugar syrup. Then cones are thrown into it and simmer for 25 minutes.

Jam without cones

There is a variant of jam in which cones are not left. The proportions are the same as indicated above. Cones are simmered for four hours. Then put the pan with the resulting mass in a cool and dark place for 10-12 hours. The result is a fairly strong pinkish-colored jelly. From it you need to throw the cones, add sugar and boil until it dissolves. In the future, this jam can be used to prepare various desserts. And if you add agar-agar to it, you get marmalade or jelly.

Cold cooking

Pine jam can be prepared in the so-called cold way. To do this, take the smallest and softest pine cones, rinse and sort them out as described above. Such small cones are usually easy to cut, so they need to be crushed, roll each piece in sugar and lay in layers in a prepared glass jar. In addition, each subsequent layer is additionally sprinkled with sugar. The jars are covered with gauze or linen napkin and placed in the sun. Periodically, they will need to be shaken so that the sugar is completely dissolved. At the initial stages, the sun accelerates biochemical processes, which is exactly what is needed to prepare a dessert. But when it is ready, the banks are closed with lids and put in a dark place.

Pine cone jam with honey

He will need 130-140 young cones, 1.5 cups of sugar, 0.5 cup of liquid flower honey, 100 ml of purified drinking water. It is prepared as follows: pre-washed cones are covered with sugar, then honey and water are added and left for 60–70 minutes. After that, the prepared mass is boiled over high heat, removed to a minimum and cooked until it becomes thick. It will take about 15 minutes. Periodically, you need to remove the emerging foam. Then the jam is cooled and poured into jars, which are closed with sealed lids.

Jam with cones and lingonberries

Since these berries are a natural antibiotic, a treat prepared from them will be doubly useful - both for treatment and for the prevention of influenza and SARS.

For 2 kg of young cones you will need to take 4 kg of sugar, 1 cup of lingonberry, 2.5 liters of purified water. Syrup should be prepared first. Pour water into a saucepan with sugar, mix, bring the syrup to a boil. In the meantime, you can do bumps. They are washed under running water and, when the syrup boils, spread in a saucepan. Lingonberries sorted out, washed, then pounded with a pestle. True, modern housewives in such cases prefer a blender. Lingonberry mass is added to the pan to jam from cones, mixed, brought to a boil and left under a closed lid, without kindling a strong fire, for another hour. The jam is cooled, transferred to sterile glass jars and sealed with lids.

Pine jam with pine nuts and cinnamon

This combination gives the finished dessert a refined aroma, makes the taste more delicate and soft, while all the ingredients are very useful. But making this jam will be a rather laborious process.

For 1 kg of washed young cones take the same amount of pine nuts, 1 kg of sugar and 1 liter of purified water. Cinnamon is added to taste, the main thing is not to overdo it. To start, all the ingredients should be prepared. The hardest thing - with pine nuts. They need to be peeled and then calcined in a frying pan without oil for 10-15 minutes. Stir the nuts regularly so that they do not burn. In the meantime, the cones are washed, poured with water (it is best that they stand for an hour to collect the released resin) and bring to a boil. After that, you can add pine nuts, cinnamon and sugar to them, actively mixing all the components. The jam should stand on low heat for another 2 hours. Periodically stir it and remove the foam. Then it is cooled and transferred to sterile jars.

Pine jam with orange zest

0.8 kg of young cones take 1 kg of sugar, the peel of one large orange, 1 liter of water. As in previous recipes, pine cones are washed and soaked in water for at least an hour. Then they are washed again, poured with water, add the peel of an orange, cut into thin strips, sugar and leave on low heat. Jam foam is periodically removed using a slotted spoon. In total, it should be prepared within 1.5 hours. During this time, you can sterilize banks. The cooled jam is poured into prepared containers and closed tightly with lids. Can be added to jam and lemon zest.

Pine jam with lemon juice

For 1 kg of young pine cones they take the same amount of granulated sugar, 0.5 l of purified water and 60–80 ml of lemon juice. Cones should be prepared in the usual way - washing them in running water and soaking for at least an hour. Then they are washed again, covered with sugar, poured with water and left over low heat for 2 hours. About 10 minutes before turning off the fire, lemon juice is added to the sweet mass. Some housewives replace it with citric acid - half a teaspoon will be enough. By the way, lemon does not allow jam to be candied.

What spices are suitable for pine jam

Today, many housewives add spices to the usual fruit or berry jam. But spices are suitable for cone delicacy, revealing its taste and aroma even more fully. For these purposes, you can use cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric (you can also saffron, but it is very expensive), as well as nutmeg. Spices are added to taste, but it is very important not to go too far with them. For 1 kg of pine cones, you can add cinnamon on the tip of the knife, and for a few kilograms - a pinch or half a teaspoon. Spices will make jam even more useful, but it is necessary that they do not cook for a long time, otherwise their active substances will be destroyed. Therefore, it is better to put them about 15 minutes before the jam is ready.

Jam storage rules

The optimum temperature for storing jam from pine cones is from 0 to + 20 ° С. Humidity should be 70%. In such conditions, the jam can be stored for about a year, that is, until the next replenishment of stocks.

Therefore, you can keep it in the refrigerator - there you can just provide all the conditions so that the product does not lose its useful properties. But in general, any fairly cool and dark place (for example, a closet on an unheated balcony) would be a good option. It is important that the jam does not fall in direct sunlight, as this will destroy beneficial substances.

Pine jam has a strong aroma, so it is not recommended to store it in the same place where there are products that quickly absorb odors, such as cheese and dairy products. It is better to keep it on a shelf where other closed cans are. And, of course, the jam itself also needs to be kept only with the lid closed.

How to take pine cone jam

Experts warn that jam from pine cones is only beneficial if it is consumed in small quantities. On a day, to improve health, it is enough to eat 2-3 teaspoons of the treat, washed down with warm tea without sugar.

In traditional medicine, there are also certain rules for the use of jam from various diseases, in particular:

1. With angina, cone jam disinfects the throat, helps cleanse it of the waste products of bacteria, and relieves pain. It also lowers temperature. To recover, you need to drink tea with pine jam three times a day (1 tsp is added to the drink). Tea should be warm, but not hot, so as not to injure the mucous membrane. You can also make jam with water and gargle with it. In the exact same way they take this medicine for bronchitis. Only sometimes doctors advise to drink jam with a large amount of liquid, for example, after a cup of tea, drink another glass of water. It is best to take this medicine for two weeks.
2. For any diseases accompanied by a cough (unless we are talking about allergies and angioedema), so that he goes into the wet stage, and the patient can expectorate sputum, you need to take 2 tbsp jam. in a day.
3. For asthma, 2 tablespoons are recommended. jam to divide into 5-6 receptions. And you can not drink a treat. And it should be taken one hour before a meal or two hours after.
4. With cardiovascular disease and hypertension, jam can be effective, but you need to take it for a long time - at least two weeks, or even longer. It is also advised to use it to improve blood circulation after a stroke in the recovery period. It also requires long-term treatment - at least for a month you will have to drink this medicine for 1 tbsp. in a day.
5. In case of parasitic infestation, when there is infection with worms and giardia, traditional medicine recommends eating a tablespoon of this dessert in the morning on an empty stomach, without drinking or seizing it. After 30 minutes you can have breakfast. These helminths do not tolerate substances contained in cone jam.The course of treatment is designed for a week, if we are talking about getting rid of worms. If there are lamblia, jam will need to be taken for two weeks.

It should be remembered that with a parasitic infection, jam does not relieve helminth larvae in any way, so you will have to drink pharmaceutical preparations at the same time as alternative medicines. In any case, before using it, you should consult your doctor.

Is it possible to eat pine cones from jam

Theoretically, soft cones from jam can be eaten. But it should be understood that they contain many resins and substances that give them a tart taste. Even after one such lump, astringent sensations arise in the mouth, let alone a few! Therefore, it is better to use exactly the liquid.

Photo of pine cone jam