309377 Fri Jul 14 19:20:25 -0700 2006 5 31 Home Cooking 0 1745146 I have a ton of blueberries and want to make one of those fruit-only type spreads. It's fine to add apple juice and pectin, i just don't want to add sugar. If you've ever had those Bionaturae spreads that Whole Foods sells, then you know exactly what I'm talking about, as that is the one I'd like to imitate. I poked around on Epi, but couldn't find anything, perhaps just b/c I couldn't seem to write the correct search words? Who knows... Anyway, if anyone has a recipe, I'd really appreciate hearing it! Thanks! Fri Jul 14 19:20:25 -0700 2006 16421 brownie 1 1745590 What about using honey instead of sugar, does that count? Fri Jul 14 22:14:21 -0700 2006 1745146 15425 RobotDeathSquad 1 1745627 By adding apple juice you are not avoiding sugars. Apple juice contains 1.5 g/100 g. glucose, 6.0g/100 g.fructose and 3.0g/100 g. sucrose. Apple juice will add pectin all on its own but how much depends on how much you use of course. Honey is also made up of the same sugars as cane/beet suar but the carbon linkages are different. Meaasure for measure honey is sweeter than sugar and the body uses the available sugars differently so with cane/beet sugar your body may store the available energy as fat more readily than with honey but while you are caluclating the sugar content of the sugar in your "all natural spread" you also need to take into fact that fully ripe blueberries are 11% sugar by weight. Fri Jul 14 22:41:07 -0700 2006 1745146 10285 Candy 1 1745845 Are you trying to can them and keep a long time? Or are you just wanting a quick spread? If it's the later, then just cooking your berries with some lemon juice and maybe some other natural sweetners (apple juice, honey whatever) will be enough. Blueberries have enough pectin in them that they'll set up once cooled. This quick spread can probably keep for a few days in the fridge. Sat Jul 15 00:40:38 -0700 2006 1745146 10144 OnceUponABite 1 1748718 Hello all, A polish friend of mine makes strawberry jam with no sugar no pectin....nothing but strawberries! She simmers them slowly on the stove top for day though. It is quite a time commitment but ensures a nice, nothing added jam. Also, I can say quite confidently that the body does not use different sugars differently. Sugar, in any form, is simple carbohydrate and the location of digestion and the chemical pathways used in the process are all the same whether it is honey, white sugar, brwon sugar, or beet sugar. All are turned into fat just as readily if you are eating more calories then you expend. Jenna Mon Jul 17 11:59:25 -0700 2006 1745146 18354 j2brady 2 1749460 Thanks for the info regarding sugar j2brady........I did not know that..... Mon Jul 17 18:53:16 -0700 2006 1748718 16895 Mickey Blue