When I went to work for Dr. Grandma's, I became very interested in all-natural, zero-calorie sweeteners. I have always avoided artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes like the plague, but after reading Erythritol – the Coming Alternative to Simple Sugar and other articles, I started using erythritol. Simply stated, you get the sweetness of sugar without the empty calories, the spike in blood sugar, the nasty after taste or all of the other side effects associated with other sweeteners.

I was very interested in using erythritol to make jam and I began to experiment. I made a batch of apricot jam with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of erythritol. It was very good. I made a batch with 2 1/2 cups of erythritol - making it just as I would if I were using sugar. It was very good, but the jam crystallized when it was exposed to air. I made a batch adding 3 cups of erythritol after cooking the apricots. That batch tasted very good, although it did have a few crystals.

Below is my recipe using erythritol added after cooking. I urge you to experiment and please share your results with me.

Ingredients

• "SURE-JELL Premium Fruit Pectin." It comes in a pink box that states "for less or no sugar needed recipes made with at least 25% less sugar than regular pectin recipes."
• 4 cups very finely chopped apricots (use the amount of fruit called for on the recipe sheet for the type of jam you are making.)
• Follow the Cooked Jam & Jelly Directions, with the following changes:
  • I use 3 cups of erythritol instead of sugar
  • I use olive oil instead of butter to reduce the amount of foam.
  • I add 3/4 cup of water - I got this from the instructions for using Splenda at the bottom of the recipe sheet.

  Directions

  I mixed pectin and 1/4 cup erythritol, olive oil and lemon juice into apricots. I brought this mixture to a rolling boil for one minute.
  I added the remaining erythritol, stirring until it was completely dissolved.
  I ladled the jam into the cleaned, boiled and prepared jars.

  My recipe made 8 cups of jam.

  

  Prepare the fruit

  

  Measure the Erythritol

  

  Add the Erythritol after the rolling boil.

  

  Stir the Erythritol into the fruit

  

  Apricot jam!