A healthy jam with an unusual taste can be made from young pine cones. It is able to support the body with coughs, bronchitis, colds, flu, tuberculosis. The best suited for this purpose are young cones that did not have time to stiffen, collected in late May - early June.
To make cone jam, you need to select them carefully. They should be "feminine" - dense, light, with barely visible ribs. Small and thin cones growing in a bunch at the base of the branches are male and not suitable for jam.
Before cooking, the cones are sorted out, debris is removed. Rinse them under running water. Then put the cones in a suitable dish, add water - 1 kg of cones to 3 liters of water - and put on low heat. Cook for four hours. Cool the cooked and remove for infusion in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.
After this time, strain the brew - you get a pink jelly-like mass. It is better to remove cones from it. For each liter of the resulting mass, add 1 kg of sugar. Then boil until thick. Pine cone jam in the process becomes transparent and looks like honey.
Pour the jam into pre-prepared sterilized jars, close the lids. Store in a cool place.
With all the beneficial properties of pine cones, there are contraindications. It is not recommended to use them in case of acute hepatitis, pregnancy, kidney disease.
