Cloudberry Jam substitute

Best substitute

Apricot Jam + Lemon Juice

4 parts apricot jam to 1 part lemon juice, used 1:1

Best for multekrem

Taste and texture differ

The best substitute for cloudberry jam is apricot jam sharpened with lemon juice, about four parts jam to one part juice, used measure for measure. Adding a spoonful of seedy raspberry jam gets you the texture as well, and lingonberry jam fills the same role on a cheese board even though it tastes sharper.

Other cloudberry jam substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Raspberry Jam and Apricot Jam, Half and Half
Different taste
Use the same amount in total, plus a squeeze of lemon
Raspberry brings the seeds and the perfume, apricot brings the honeyed body and the golden tone.
What changes
Best for
multekrem, desserts, cakes, cheese boards
The best texture match, because seedy raspberry jam has the same gritty pop cloudberry does. The colour goes pink-red rather than amber, which is obvious in a white cream dessert, and the flavour reads brightly berry instead of wild and musky.
3Lingonberry Jam
Different taste
Use the same amount
It plays exactly the same part on a Nordic plate, which is the sweet-sour preserve served against something rich, and it is far easier to buy.
What changes
Best for
brunost and waffles, cheese boards, meatballs, pancakes, game
Sharper, more astringent and much less floral, so it is excellent alongside brown cheese, aged cheese or meat and disappointing in a cloudberry cream, where the perfume is the whole point. Stir in a teaspoon of honey to soften the edge.
4Peach or Yellow Plum Preserve + Lemon Juice
Taste and texture differ
4 parts preserve to 1 part lemon juice, used 1:1
Right colour, right honeyed sweetness, and both are widely available and cheap.
What changes
Best for
waffles, pancakes, cakes, rice pudding
Visually almost indistinguishable in a bowl and pleasantly tart once the lemon is in, but softer and jammier in texture and with none of cloudberry's wild musk. Good enough that nobody who has not tasted the real thing will question it.
5Sea Buckthorn or Gooseberry Preserve
Different taste
Use the same amount and hold back on any extra lemon
Both are Nordic, both are amber-gold, and both bring the aggressive tartness that a supermarket jam does not.
What changes
Best for
desserts, cheese boards, game, waffles
Correct level of sourness and correct colour, so this is the substitute that gets closest to cloudberry's bracing quality. Sea buckthorn is more resinous and gooseberry more green-tasting, so neither has the honeyed floral note.
6No Real Substitute (for Multekrem)
Different taste
Least-bad blend: 3 parts apricot jam, 1 part seedy raspberry jam, 1 part lemon juice
In multekrem, cloudberry cream, or served as the Christmas partner to brunost and aged cheese, the berry is the entire dish and there is no honest replacement.
What changes
Best for
multekrem, cloudberry cream, Christmas desserts
This blend makes a very good dessert that guests will happily eat, and it is not cloudberry. If the berry genuinely matters, frozen cloudberries and jars of hjortronsylt turn up in Scandinavian delis and IKEA food halls and are worth the trip.

What is Cloudberry Jam?

Cloudberry Jam is Cloudberry jam is a loose, amber, seed-flecked preserve made from cloudberries, the subarctic bog berry known as hjortron in Sweden, multebaer in Norway and bakeapple in Newfoundland, which tastes tart and musky with a honeyed, almost apricot-like aroma.

Cooking tips

Real cloudberry jam is much less sweet and much looser than ordinary supermarket jam. If you substitute a standard jam, correct it with lemon juice rather than reaching for more sugar, or the dessert turns syrupy.
The seeds are part of the experience in multekrem, so do not sieve them out and, if you are substituting, choose a jam that still has its seeds. This is the one place raspberry jam beats apricot.
Fold jam into whipped cream at the last moment and give it only three or four turns. The acid slackens whipped cream if you beat it in, and a marbled cream also looks far better than a uniformly pink one.
Warm it gently and loosen with a spoonful of water to make a glaze or sauce. Cloudberries are naturally high in pectin, so the jam sets firmly and needs help to pour.
Serve it cold against something rich such as brown cheese, aged cheese, waffles or rice pudding. The contrast is the entire point, so if your substitute is sweeter than cloudberry, a squeeze of lemon is what keeps that contrast alive.
If you are making preserves to keep, do not reduce the sugar or acid in a tested water-bath canning recipe, because those levels are part of what makes the jar safe. Check the National Center for Home Food Preservation for tested recipes. A refrigerator jam eaten within a couple of weeks can be sweetened to taste.

Frequently asked questions

Are cloudberries the same as lingonberries?

No. Lingonberries are small, red and sharply tart in a cranberry-like way, and they grow abundantly. Cloudberries are amber-orange, seedy, and taste musky and honeyed as well as tart. They cannot be reliably farmed, which is why cloudberry jam costs several times what lingonberry jam does.

What is the closest substitute for cloudberry jam?

Apricot jam with lemon juice stirred in, roughly four to one. Apricot is the only easy-to-find preserve with the same honeyed, slightly musky perfume, and the lemon restores the tartness. Add a spoonful of seedy raspberry jam if the recipe relies on the little seed crunch, as multekrem does.

Can I just leave the cloudberry jam out?

On a cheese board, yes, or swap in any tart amber preserve. In multekrem the jam is one of only two ingredients, so leaving it out gives you a bowl of whipped cream. Use the apricot and lemon blend and it becomes a genuinely good dessert under a different name.

Why is cloudberry jam so expensive?

Cloudberries have resisted commercial cultivation, so nearly all of the crop is still hand-picked from wild subarctic bogs during a short season, and yields swing wildly from year to year. Combine hand harvesting with unpredictable supply and the price follows. This is also why substitution questions dominate cloudberry searches.

Can I use frozen cloudberries to make my own jam?

Yes, frozen cloudberries work perfectly well and are easier to find than fresh. For a fridge jam you plan to eat within a couple of weeks, cook them down with sugar to taste. If you intend to water-bath can it for the pantry, follow a tested recipe exactly rather than adjusting the sugar or acid.

Related substitutes

More preserves substitutes

Cloudberry Jam substitute

Other cloudberry jam substitutes

2Raspberry Jam and Apricot Jam, Half and Half

3Lingonberry Jam

4Peach or Yellow Plum Preserve + Lemon Juice

5Sea Buckthorn or Gooseberry Preserve

6No Real Substitute (for Multekrem)