French Tartine Looking For Jam With No Added Sugar

I already hear some of you say ‘Sugar free jam does not exist’. That is right, in France, to be called ‘jam’ or confiture, a fruit preparation must contain a minimum of 55% sugar. But when I first tasted the St Dalfour Fruit Spreads, I decided they fully deserved the status of jam and a good spot on my breakfast table, along with my homemade (real) jams. That was long before I cut white sugar from my diet.

There are no added sugar in those tall pretty glass jars, only the natural sugar from the fruits and the sweetness of grapefruit and date juice concentrates. The idea of using concentrated juice was inspired by an ancient preserving method. The story goes so that the grandma of St Dalfour’s President used grape juice instead of sugar during WWII to prepare jam. Sugar back then was rationed and very costly, and the family happened to own a vineyard, that’s how the recipe was born.

I wouldn’t feature St Dalfour ‘jams’ just because they are French healthy – sugar free does not mean good by default. Why I love those fruits spreads, is that they are full of flavor, taste real fruits, not ‘fruity’, and contain whole fruit pieces. My favorite flavor? Four Fruits, made of Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries and Black Cherries, with big chunks to spread on my bread, miam! I also love Raspberry and Pomegranate, Thick Apricot and the subtle flavor of the Ficus spreads. There are more than a dozen flavors to enjoy here in Finland.

Only one of St Dalfour Fruit Spreads let me down: Mirabelle, made from that yellow sweet little plum that is the specialty and pride of the French region Lorraine – my home region. My grandfather used to have mirabelle trees in his garden, from which my grandmother created the most delicious jam on earth, with large fruit pieces we spread shamelessly on thick slices of bread and butter. Nothing can ever compare to this wonderful mirabelle jam from my childhood.

If you still need convincing, the St Dalfour spreads are without artificial coloring or preservatives, time to bake some crepes and give them a try!