Instant Pot Carrot Cake Jam

Instant Pot Carrot Cake Jam is delicious, easy, and very quick to make. It’s great on some buttered toast or pancakes. Perfect addition to an Easter Brunch.

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Carrot Jam may sound strange but it’s actually delicious. Carrots are naturally sweet and they get soft as they cook, so they are ideal to turn into jams. I mean, if carrots can be turned into cakes, then jam shouldn’t be a problem.

Using carrots in sweet recipes other than carrot cake is also not really that unusual. There’s a very traditional Indian carrot pudding dessert that is called Gajar ka halwa (Carrot Halwa). Carrot Tzimmes is a traditional Jewish recipe, and although it is not technically a dessert and is treated as a side, it is sweetened with honey.

Making Carrot Cake Jam in Instant Pot means that I don’t have to watch the pot to boil and deal with hot sugar and liquid. It is really easy and fast. Perfect “set it and forget it” recipe.

If you are worried that this jam will taste too much like carrot baby food, then let me tell you – it won’t! All the lemon, orange, cinnamon, and raisins turn the carrots into a delectable and sweet treat. Perfect for Easter Breakfast!

Ingredients to make Carrot Cake Jam

• Carrots
• Golden raisins
• Spices (I use cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger but you can use your favourite carrot cake spices)
• Orange zest and orange juice
• Lemon zest and lemon juice
• Sugar
• Water

How to make Instant Pot Carrot Cake Jam

It really is a very easy recipe with only a few steps. The most difficult step is to peel and shred the carrots.

1. Peel and shred the carrots. I use my food processor to shred them.
2. Add all the ingredients to Instant Pot. I love using my ceramic liner when making any kind of Instant Pot Jam.
3. Cook on High Pressure for 2 minutes then do a 10 minutes natural pressure release.
4. Open the lid, mix, and sauté for about 5 minutes until most liquid evaporates. See notes below about this step.

Easy!!

Questions and answers about Instant Pot Carrot Cake Jam

Do you need to sauté the jam after cooking?

I like my jam to have less liquid, so that’s why I sauté. However, if you prefer jam with syrup, you can omit the step.

The sugary liquid will thicken and turn syrupy as the jam cools.

Can you change the texture of the jam?

You’ll notice that this Carrot Cake Jam has lots of pieces, it’s not very spreadable because carrots are grated.

You can use your blender or a food processor to blend this Carrot Cake Jam into a much smoother consistency if you’d like.

Is it a canning jam?

No, it is not! It is important NOT TO CAN this jam! This is a refrigerator jam!

Canned jam means that there’s enough sugar to act as a preservative for the fruit. If there’s not enough sugar then the jam will spoil.

In this particular Instant Pot Carrot Cake Jam recipe, there’s definitely not enough sugar to be able to turn it into a canning jam.

Traditionally you’d need about 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar in order to be able to can the recipe.

Can you use more or less sugar?

Sure, you can! Since it is a refrigerator jam, you can use less (or more) sugar to taste.

How long will Instant Pot Carrot Cake Jam last?

Since this carrot cake jam recipe is a refrigerator jam recipe, it can last about 2 weeks in the fridge in an airtight jar.

Note: it most likely can also be frozen but I haven’t tried freezing it myself.

Can you omit raisins?

Sure. I use them mostly to add extra sweetness to the jam without adding extra sugar.

Can you use stainless steel Instant Pot Insert instead of Ceramic insert?

There’s a lot of sugar and ceramic non-stick insert works really well in this recipe. However, you should be able to use stainless steel insert also.

How to use Carrot Jam

My favourite way is actually eating it still warm on some buttered bread or buns. You can even turn it into a complete Easter breakfast by using my Instant Pot No Knead Carrot Bread Rolls.

Another option is to serve this Carrot Cake Jam with Carrot Cake Pancakes.

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