Caramel Apple Jam With Pistachios: An Apple Jam You’ll Love

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You might have tried numerous caramel apple jams, sometimes known as candied apple jams, with solid white apple chunks in an amber-coloured goo. It’s understandable if you’re skeptical about the “caramel” or “candied” label, as many of these jams don’t live up to the name. However, caramel apple jam is not a misnomer. Better yet, you can make it at home. In this recipe, we’ll teach you how to make a genuine, candied apple jam filled with perfectly translucent caramelized apples. Moreover, we’ll share with you, our readers, the method you can use to make candied pears or even strawberries, as demonstrated in this strawberry jam recipe.

Apples to use for caramel apple jam

In our previous post about making apple juice, we pointed out that not all apples are the same. Luckily, there’s a perfect apple for every type of jam you want to make. To emphasize, for our caramel apple jam recipe, choosing the right apples is crucial. To clarify, you will need the ones that can handle long, slow cooking without falling apart into mush. For that reason, Fuji apples won’t work well for this jam.

Moreover, because our jam relies on sugar to extract the apple’s natural juices for the cooking syrup, it’s best to pick apples with high natural acidity to counterbalance the sweetness of all that sugar. Pink Lady, Granny Smith and Jonagold are all good choices.

The technique to make candied fruit jams

Achieving the perfect caramelization in apples and other fruits relies on a low temperature and a slow cooking approach. We started our caramel apple jam with a gentle boil, quickly turning off the heat. This allowed the apple slices to steep in the warm syrup of rendered apple juice and dissolved sugar for over 12 hours. Then, we cooked the mixture for just 5 minutes and let the jam cool down completely. We repeated this step multiple times. While the technique to caramelize apples or other fruits is not complicated, it demands a significant idle time between short cooking sessions and a lot of patience. Therefore, to make caramelized fruit jam, you should plan for at least two to three days of cooking.

How to make caramel apple jam with perfectly candied apple slices

This caramel apple jam canning recipe takes you step-by-step through the process of making a candied apple jam with perfectly translucent apples and tender pistachios. This jam is versatile enough to be a go-to in your pantry.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Resting time 2 days days

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Ingredients

• 4.5 lb. of cored apples 2.04 kg
• 1.5 lb. sugar 680 g.
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup pistachios
• 1 lemon
• 2 Meyer lemons

Instructions

Prepare apples for caramel apple jam:

• Thoroughly wash the apples to remove any dirt or residue. Do not peel the apples.
• Remove the cores from the apples. You can use an apple corer or simply cut the apples around the core.
• Slice the apples into thin slices
• If there are blemishes or bruising, cut away damaged parts.
• Layer the sliced apples in a pot, adding a cinnamon stick and sprinkling sugar between layers. Squeeze lemon juice on top.
• Cover the pot with a lid or cling wrap and let it sit for 12 hours, allowing the sugar to draw out the apple natural juices.

Cooking the caramel apple jam:

• Carefully mix the apples and sugar to avoid sugar settling at the pot’s bottom.
• Place the pot on medium heat, allowing the sugar to dissolve and the mixture to come to a gentle boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let it cool for 4-8 hours or overnight, allowing the apples to soak up the sugary syrup and caramelize.
• Bring the cooled jam back to a gentle boil and boil for another 5 minutes. Repeat this step three more times at intervals, letting the jam and pot cool completely between rounds.

Cooking the pistachios and finishing the caramel apple jam:

• Before the final cooking round, prepare the pistachios. To prepare pistachios, boil shelled pistachios for 5 minutes, then rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process and remove impurities.
• Add the cooked pistachios to the caramel apple jam. Carefully mix everything to combine sliced apples and pistachios together. Then bring the apple-pistachio mixture to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer the jam for 10 – 15 minutes. Have clean, sterilized jars ready for packing immediately. Process according to your preferred canning method.

Yield

The specified in this jam recipe quantity of ingredients should yield enough of jam to fill six 8 oz. (250 ml.) mason jars. The final yield may vary based on your preferred level of jam doneness.

Preserve Type Jam

Cuisine European

Diet Vegan

Keyword caramel apple jam | caramelized apple jam | jam cheese pairing

Frequently asked questions

Is it possible to adjust the batch size of this jam recipe?

Scaling up or down the batch size is a simple process. To scale up, proportionally increase the ingredients. To scale down, proportionally increase the ingredients. Additionally, keep in mind that you’ll also need a larger pot to accommodate the increased quantity of ingredients. Another key point is that the cooking time will be a bit longer due to the larger batch size.

Can I substitute the cinnamon stick with the ground cinnamon?

Yes, you can use ground cinnamon as a substitute. Start with ½ tsp. of a ground spice, because ground cinnamon has a stronger flavor than a cinnamon stick. If you prefer more cinnamon taste, you can add up to 1 ½ tbsp, but be cautious, as too much may clash with the pistachio flavor.

My apples look translucent after one interim round of cooking. Do I need to continue with three more rounds?

Depending on the type of apples you use, one interim round of cooking followed by the final cooking round maybe enough. The number of interim cooking rounds depends on how quickly your apples are able to absorb the sugary apple syrup. The key is to have all your sliced apples turn translucent and marmalade-like.