Frog Jam

I didn’t use to be a jam fan.

Toast and biscuits were either dry or I didn’t eat them. What seemed a pointless side to breakfast was never slathered in homemade, concentrated, bright jam.

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And then my college years hit. When I gained the 30-sophomore pounds. And anything with butter or sugar or fat was banished. What was I thinking?

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I have happily lost the college weight, come to my senses, and realized what I missing.

Jam is a good thing.

Homemade jam is the best.

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When we bought this house and were told we had two fig bushes in the yard, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them. Until they started ripening this summer, I had never had a fresh fig – ever.

And now I’m not sure what I would do without them.

I love them plain. Sliced and soft and seedy. In yogurt, mushy and mixed with tart and tangy. Paired with raspberries for a sweet snack. On pizza with salty bacon and syrupy balsamic.

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But, by far, my favorite thing to make with the supple purple figs is now Frog Jam.

I had no idea what Frog Jam was until a few months ago when Nick and I visited Homestead Creamery. While we were looking around the store at the creamery, I saw a jar of Frog Jam and picked it up, interested to see what it actually was.

I mean – it couldn’t really be frogs, right?

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Turns out that Frog Jam is just a fun – and much shorter – way to say Fig, Raspberry, Orange, and Ginger Jam…aka, this may be my favorite combination ever-jam.

The figs bring a light peachy-ness to the tart red raspberries, and mixed with the orange juice and spicy ginger, it’s an irresistible mix.

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I like to use the low-sugar pectin in my jams with a little less sugar than most recipes – mostly because I want to use more natural sugars and be able to really taste the fruit, rather than just sugar.  But you could follow any regular jam recipe with these fruit measurements and still end up with a delicious spread for toast and biscuits, a topping for cream cheese, or a mix in for yogurt.

Frog Jam is good on just about everything.

 

FROG Jam

Makes: 5-6 half pints of jam

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups fresh figs
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 2.5 cups fresh raspberries
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 1/2 cups agave syrup or sugar
  • 3 Tbsp low-sugar pectin
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

  1. In a blender, puree figs with orange juice until smooth.
  2. Add raspberries and ginger and blend until everything is combined.
  3. Pour fig mixture into a large pot and stir in agave and pectin.
  4. While the fruit mixture is heating, place jar lids in a small pan of water and simmer. Get your jars and lids ready for canning and have a large pot of water heating on the stove top.
  5. Bring mixture to a boil and cook, on medium and stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
  6. Fill each jar and leave 1/2 inch headspace, place a lid on the jar and secure the ring.
  7. Process in a water-bath canner for 12 minutes.
  8. Remove from canner and let the jars sit, unmoved, for a few hours until they have cooled and the lids have popped.

45 comments

  1. YumYUM!! I love this jam idea! SO clever. I know it will taste amazing, the ginger in it sounds great!! I used to be a non-jammer as well. Now, I loves it!! :)

  2. I love that its an acronym!!! Sounds amazing

  3. I love all of those flavors, so they must be incredible together. I also love the name, took me a minute to put it together.

  4. This jam does kinda sound like the best thing ever! I also love how enigmatic the name is…you just don’t know what you’re gonna get!

  5. Holy cow, this sounds delicious! Feel free to send some my way if you have soem to spare……… :)

    • If I still have some after getting Christmas gifts together, I’ll do it! It’ll depend on how many more batches of figs we get :)

  6. That’s a fantastic combination (and name). I’m looking for my fall canning things and late bloom raspberries would be perfect for these.

  7. I love jam! I’ve never made it homemade, but I love buying homemade ones at farmer’s markets.

  8. I was super worried about those frogs for a minute.

  9. What a fabulous mixture of flavors! You are becoming quite the homemake over there, I’m loving all these from-your-garden creations!

  10. I love frog jam…it’s one of my favorites!

  11. I need to try this. I love figs and raspberries and I’m sure the addition of orange and ginger would make it even more delicious. I want to learn how to make jam.

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  13. Haha – I was wondering where the frog was coming from too!
    Feel free to send some my way ;)

  14. I LOVE figs. My in-laws planted a fig tree about seven years ago, but it hardly has any figs… So disappointing… Unfortunately, we don’t have space for a fig tree, or I would plant one! I hadn’t heard of frog jam; it sounds fabulous!

  15. I love that it’s called Frog Jam and I love that you have SO many fresh figs in your yard. It’s beautiful, too!

  16. I’m terrified of canning, but this looks AMAZING. Absolutely incredible.

    • Don’t be scared! :) I was, too, the first time I tried, but it’s not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

  17. Ahhh frog jam. I get it now. I’m so jealous of the fig bush. It sounds absolutely fantastic.

  18. oh wow, what a delicious flavor combination!! i need to try this sometime…

  19. oh my gosh. i love jam. and this sounds heavenly. seriously you should sell this, i’ll buy a jar! :)

    • if i end up and have enough for us and for some Christmas gifts and have some left over, remind me and i’ll just send you some! :)

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  24. Do you know if you can used dried figs thats are rehydrated??? Having a hard time finding fresh figs this year.

    • Hi Dawn! I’m not sure – I’ve only used fresh figs, but you could try looking up recipes online to see if you can find one using dried figs. That would give you the right measurements you would need of everything. Good luck!

  25. Love this, Brandi! I’m obsessed with figs right now!!

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  29. I JUST ran out of my jar of FROG jam (market-bought) and want to make some myself….what type of figs did you use? I will have to by mine at the store and they sometimes several varieties.

    Thanks!
    Beth

    • I think ours are brown turkey? But I’m not 100% sure since we inherited them when we bought this house. I think any figs will work fine!

  30. Thanks. Can’t wait to try this! (sorry for the typos in the original post;(

  31. My jam has larger pcs of ginger, which I cannot get enough of, and I think it’s only strawberries, there is no label of contents, but will call the number on jar, It’s in Descanso, CA anyway, delicious thanks for the recipes

  32. My parents bought me some frog jam while they were in Virginia, and I found this post while googling to see if it’s a regional thing that I’ve never heard about. It’s pretty amazing with brie!

  33. It’s amazing and has a kick if you add jalapenos to it ;) Thanks for posting the recipe…even the 6yr old can’t get enough of it!

  34. My daughter came across a jar of this and bought it for me knowing it would be right up my alley (I could eat figs all day long!). I knew I needed a recipe so I can’t wait to try it – thank you for posting!

  35. I didn’t add the lemon! Is it ok? It wasn’t added in the recipe instruction

  36. I have the frog jam and wanted to know if you have any recipes for cooking meats with the jam
    Thanks

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