The Latin botanical name of the walnut Juglans regia is literally translated as "the royal acorn of Jupiter." Such a big name is fully justified by the benefits contained in both ripe and green fruits of this tree, so it is not surprising that walnut jam is considered “royal” among other preparations. Next, you will learn about the benefits, composition and calorie content of an unusual treat, as well as get acquainted with the subtleties and secrets of its preparation.

The composition and calorie content of walnut jam

The fruits of walnuts are special because they change their chemical composition as they ripen. So, for example, vitamin C is found in excess in green fruits and is completely absent in ripe fruits; therefore, the composition of walnut jam differs from the composition of dried kernels.

This delicacy is rich:

  • amino acids (histidine, valine, glutamine, cystine, serine, asparagine, phenylalanine);
  • vitamins (B, C, A, E, K, PP and F);
  • and its mineral composition is represented by the following elements: calcium, magnesium, iodine, potassium, zinc, iron, phosphorus.

Walnut jam is a fairly high-calorie product. Depending on the selected recipe, the calorie content of the goodies can be from 248 to 433 kcal / 100 g, so you should not abuse it in any case.

What is useful for an unusual treat

According to one study by British scientists, walnut jam can prevent the development of breast cancer and prostate cancer.But still, the main benefit of jam is due to the high content of iodine in it, as well as vitamins E and C.

Thanks to these substances, such a product allows you to:

  • cope with diseases caused by iodine deficiency;
  • easier to carry heavy physical exertion;
  • improve blood circulation in the vessels of the brain;
  • remove toxins, toxins and free radicals;
  • improve the quality of blood and lymph;
  • increase the body's resistance to colds and infectious diseases.

Along with the enormous benefits, there are still some contraindications, in which you should refrain from using walnut jam. It is allergic to walnuts and excess iodine in the body.

Basic rules and secrets of making jam

The taste of this winter harvest (however, like others) for the most part depends on the quality of the selected raw materials.

Only nuts of a certain degree of maturity, which is usually achieved in the second half of June - early July, are suitable for such jam.

And this degree of milky-wax maturity is called when a delicate shell of milk color and waxy softness is hidden under the green peel. The size of such nuts is usually only slightly larger than the olive.

A simple test will help determine if nuts are suitable for jam. You need to take one green nut and try to pierce it through with a toothpick. If this can be done without much effort, then in the hands of the perfect raw material for future harvesting.

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Additionally, it will not be superfluous to make sure that the fruit does not have dark spots and other various flaws. Nuts should be selected as even and of the same size.

Since green fruits have strong bitterness, the procedure for soaking them in lime water is mandatory before making jam.

It occurs as follows:

  1. For 7 - 10 days, green nuts are soaked in water, and so that it does not become acidic, change it 3-4 times a day.
  2. Then lime water is prepared. 200 g of slaked lime is poured with 3 liters of water, stirred, insisted for half an hour and filtered through cheesecloth.
  3. Pour nuts with this water for 12 hours, so that it completely covers them, and mix from time to time.
  4. Then the fruits are thoroughly washed under running water, pierced in several places with a fork and boiled for half an hour after boiling in a solution of alum (15 g per 1 liter of water) to remove residual lime.
  5. Walnuts, washed after this again, are ready for use for cooking jam.

The collection of green walnuts and their preparation for further conservation is best done with rubber gloves so as not to get hands painted in brown for several weeks.

Classic Green Walnut Jam

The composition of the classic green nut jam includes only the fruits themselves, sugar and water. If pre-soaking is not taken into account, the cooking process differs from the usual one only in that after preliminary five-minute boiling, the water must be drained.

Proportions of ingredients:

  • 1,400 g of young nuts;
  • 1000 ml of water for syrup;
  • 600 g of granulated sugar.

The recipe for a classic jam step by step:

  1. Soak the unripe fruits of walnuts in a lime solution. Then rinse them thoroughly, put them in a pan of a suitable displacement and send to the fire.
  2. After boiling, boil the nuts for five minutes and remove from heat. Let them brew for 2 to 3 hours, drain the water. Pour raw materials with fresh water and repeat the procedure with five-minute boiling and tincture.
  3. Pour sugar into a dry clean saucepan, pour water and bring the syrup to a boil. After the second boil, remove the nuts with a slotted spoon and transfer to syrup.
  4. Next, cook jam for 2.5 - 3 hours, without changing the intensity of the fire.

For storage, cork the nut treat in clean glass jars.

Armenian recipe

In Armenian, walnut jam is also called “black”, since it is this color that the green fruits acquire after soaking in lime mortar and cooking in spice syrup.

For one serving of exotic goodies you need to take:

  • 500 g of green walnuts (approximately 100 pcs.);
  • 2000 g of sugar;
  • 2000 ml of water;
  • 10 pieces. cloves;
  • 5 grains of cardamom;
  • 5 g of cinnamon;
  • 2.5 g of citric acid.

Working process:

  1. Boil the prepared nuts for half an hour. Then discard in a colander and cool quickly in cold water.
  2. Put water and sugar on a fire and bring to a boil with constant stirring so that the syrup does not burn.
  3. From a gauze folded into several layers, make a bag in which to put all the spices.
  4. Transfer the cooled nuts and a bag of spices into hot syrup. Cook the jam over medium heat for 4 to 5 hours, then let the mass cool completely.
  5. The second time to cook jam until the syrup is thick, when it will not spread on a cold saucer. At the end of cooking, remove the bag of spices and add citric acid.

Cork hot jam in sterile glass jars and roll up with iron lids.

Italian dessert with chocolate

The recipe for this jam is often found in Italian cookbooks, but the Italians are surprised by this preparation, since the duration of the preparation of nuts for many housewives completely discourages engaging in its preparation.

If a two-week soaking of walnuts does not bother you, you can prepare a delicious Italian delicacy with a chocolate flavor, which will require:

  • 1000 g of walnuts soaked and boiled in alum;
  • 1000 g of sugar;
  • 300 ml of water;
  • 100 g of cocoa powder.

Cooking Technology:

  1. Cook syrup from water and sugar. Immerse the prepared nuts in a boiling sweet composition and cook them for an hour and a half over medium heat.
  2. A quarter of an hour before the end of cooking, add cocoa powder and optional spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom or red hot pepper).

The full taste of jam will be revealed only after several weeks of aging, so it is better to postpone the tasting and until the delicacy is rolled into prepared jars. For the same reason, one should not be zealous with spices.

Young walnuts jam

Jam from young walnuts is of two types: black (nuts for it are cooked along with a green peel) and white (from peeled fruits). Since the main bitterness is concentrated in the peel, then for white jam you do not need to soak the raw materials for a long time.

To prepare such a preparation of young walnuts, you need to take:

  • 1000 g young green nuts;
  • 1,400 g of granulated sugar;
  • 400 ml of water.

Cooking method:

  1. Wearing rubber gloves, cut off the green peel from the young nuts so that the incompletely formed shell is exposed. Soak the peeled fruits for a day in cold water, changing it 3-4 times.
  2. Boil syrup from water and 700 g of granulated sugar. Put soaked nuts in it and cook for a quarter of an hour after the syrup boils again. Then remove the jam from the heat and cool completely.
  3. Pour the remaining sugar into the cooled treat and then cook the billet until fully cooked (a drop of syrup should retain its shape on a cold saucer).

How to cook without lime

So many nuts are afraid of soaking nuts in lime, which is why an alternative to such preparation using baking soda was born.

About three liters of finished jam you need to take:

  • 100 pieces. green walnuts;
  • 250 g of baking soda;
  • 2000 g of sugar;
  • 800 ml of water;
  • 1 lemon.

Cooking:

  1. With a potato peel, thinly cut the green peel from the nuts. Fold the fruits in a saucepan of a suitable displacement and soak for two days in water, changing it at least four times a day.
  2. On the third day, drain the water, cover the nuts with soda and mix. Leave the fruit alone for a day, periodically mixing them.
  3. After soda, rinse the raw materials well under running water and chop each nut in several places with a fork. Repeat two-day soaking with frequent water changes.
  4. Blanch the prepared nuts in boiling water three times. To do this, boil the water, lower the fruits into it for three minutes, then drain the water and repeat everything.
  5. In a boiling syrup from water and sugar, lower the nuts, let them boil for five minutes and cool the jam. Repeat the procedure twice more. For the third time, add sliced ​​lemon to the jam. After five minutes of boiling with lemon, the jam can be laid out in jars.

Walnut Jam with Citric Acid

Another variant of nut jam without the use of lime is prepared with citric acid. Of course, in this case, the preparation of exotic goodies will stretch for more than one week, but the result is worth it.

Proportions of ingredients for the preparation with a lemon:

  • 40 fruits of green walnuts;
  • 600 g of sugar;
  • 2000 ml of water for digestion (1750 ml) and syrup (250 ml);
  • 5 g of citric acid;
  • 10 to 15 buds of cloves;
  • 1 stick of cinnamon.

The sequence of actions:

  1. Soak the nuts first for two days in cold water, changing it every 6 hours.
  2. After that, make a few punctures in each fruit with a toothpick (fork or wooden skewer).
  3. Then soak the walnut raw materials for another 11 days, changing water as often. Each time it will turn brown - this is how bitterness comes out.
  4. Now the nuts should be peeled and immersed in an aqueous solution of citric acid for a day. Then boil the raw materials in it for 20 minutes and again stand in this solution for another day.
  5. After a day, drain the liquid from the nuts, rinse them thoroughly and send them to boiling syrup along with spices. After boiling for ten minutes, leave the fruits for a day in syrup so that they are saturated with spicy sweetness.
  6. It remains only to boil the jam for another half hour and arrange in prepared sterile jars. Now we roll them with lids and wrap them until they cool completely.

Exotic delicacy of such familiar walnuts requires long preparation and certain labor costs. But the result, believe me, is worth it!

  • Alla

    The best recipe I tried (from 100 pieces of nuts about 3 liters of prepared jam). At the end of cooking, I added 1 lemon juice and a little vanilla sugar. Walnut jam very well helps with indigestion and pains of the stomach, with poisoning. It’s enough to eat 2-3 onions. valuable recipes! Thank you!