If “giftable” is a word, then allow me to declare this the most giftable advent calendar of the season.
If you like fruit, if you like sweets, but especially if you like creative flavor combos, the Bonne Maman jam calendar is the perfect calendar to delight your senses this advent.
It’s a jam-boree of flavors. You can eat it bright and early every morning, while you’re still in your pa-jam-as.
I could jam a few more jokes in here, but I want to preserve my dignity.
In all seriousness, this is an awesome gift that is miles above the “milk chocolate poured in a mold” Advent calendars that I grew up with.
What’s in the Bonne Maman jam Advent calendar?
Behind every door – or should I say, in each cute box – you’ll get a small jar of jam.
Well, not just jam. You also get some jellies (they have a blue lid), deliciously creamy caramel spread and marmalade.
The calendar is only available during the holiday season. Some years, they seem to release it as early as August, but this year, I think it was announced in October. Let’s just say I clicked on it as fast as you could say “pass me the jam.”
You can buy the Advent calendar straight from the Bonne Maman website or the official Bonne Maman storefront on Amazon.
You may find it limited to two calendars per order in some places. This measure is meant to prevent what happened in previous years, when some resellers just ruined it for everyone by scalping the jam calendar. They bought a lot of calendars, waited until the stock ran out, then resold the calendars at much higher prices.
So make sure you buy it quickly and only from Bonne Maman. I also got myself a cute little Bonne Maman tea spoon, but please note that it’s sold separately and not part of the calendar set.
What’s so special about this jam advent calendar?
First of all, it’s a limited edition. This means that most of the jams in the calendar are not available for sale anywhere else at any point in the year. Sure, you can grab the classic raspberry, strawberry, apricot or even concord grape in the store any time of year. But I’ll spoil it for you and tell you that you won’t find these plain jam versions in this calendar.
All the spreads are crafted in France using simple ingredients, no artificial additives or preservatives, and no palm oil for the caramel spreads.
Ok, but what flavors of jam are we talking about here?
Sneaky, tricky, aren’t you? The whole point of the Advent calendar is to let yourself be surprised every day when you open a new door in the countdown to Christmas, isn’t it? So naturally, I won’t spoil all the twenty-something flavors of jam.
But let me list a few of my favorites so you can see not just the variety of flavors, but the creative ways they’ve been combined.
Pineapple and vanilla rum – Don’t worry, it won’t get you drunk. The rum flavor is very subtle, but the vanilla notes truly stand out.
Cherries and pink peppercorn – This is exactly how my grandma used to make cherry jam – with the cherries just pitted and halved, but otherwise very clearly still cherries, not paste. Of course, she would have found it very weird to use peppercorns in jam, so I’ll just roll my eyes on her behalf and in her honor and enjoy this sampling.
Purple fig and cardamom – The “regular” Bonne Maman fig jam has been on rotation in our fridge for years, so getting to sample it with added cardamom is a lovely treat. It inspires me to add cardamom to more of my recipes, not just to pumpkin pie.
Are there any classic jam choices in the Advent calendar?
I understand the concern, especially if you’re planning on gifting the jam advent calendar to family members who are a bit more, shall we say … reluctant … when it comes to trying new things. There are some classic jam combinations as well, such as:
Blueberries and maple syrup;
Strawberries and rhubarb;
And the classic caramel spread.
What about allergens?
If you have allergies or can’t eat certain foods, don’t worry. On the back of the Advent calendar is a full ingredient list for each jam.
Is the jam in the Advent calendar the same every year?
No, in my experience, the jam flavors and combos are not a hundred percent the same as in previous years.
Some jams are repeated from previous years. I’m assuming they have some sort of panel to test their popularity. How do I volunteer for such a sweet gig, please?
Other spreads from previous years are completely omitted this year. You’ll see no trace of banana (thank you, jam chefs!), dragon fruit or jasmine flower. (I kind of miss the jasmine, but it may not have been popular enough.)
And now for the fun stuff! Eating the jam advent calendar.
Here’s my word of wisdom, and you can thank me later: Get yourself two Advent calendars.
One to open throughout the month of December and slowly savor the contents of each and every jar. And a second one to share with loved ones on Christmas morning or as a sweet treat after Christmas lunch.
Let me give you a couple of methods we use to make this even more fun:
Play a game of “guess the jam.”
Spread different types of jam on a neutral “base” – such as toast, pastries or crackers. Then take turns guessing the flavors.
Be warned: don’t do this with all the twenty-something flavors at the same time, lest you turn this game from fun to frustrating. We do five at a time, and since I’m the least competitive one at any given gathering, I get to keep track of flavors and people’s answers.
Make mini-pancake sandwiches to sample all the jams.
Apologies to all the pancake purists. You might want to look away now, because we’ll start by cutting our stack of pancakes pie-style.
Then we stuff jam in between two triangles to make little pancake jam samplers. It’s an excellent way to try out more jams without the extra pancake dough.
Healthy fruit snacks
We like to do this as a palate cleanser, and it’s the single best way to eat the caramel: spread it on fruit wedges. I also like this method for the more citrussy jams.
Other ways we enjoy the Bonne Maman jam:
- Nestled it in waffles;
- Rolled in crepes;
- Smeared on crackers;
- Stuffed in croissants;
- Baked into thumbprint cookies;
- Tartine(d) on a baguette;
- Spread on toast.
Is the jam Advent calendar worth it?
In my humble jam-loving opinion, getting the Bonne Maman Advent calendar is totally worth it. I like the variety of these limited-edition holiday spreads. It’s like opening a special treat every day. It’s easy to see why this Advent calendar has developed a cult following around the world.
Truly, there are no repeats in the calendar (with the exception of three types of milk caramel spreads, but with different spices), and you do get twenty-four different flavors. In spite of the size of the jars, they’re large enough for sampling with the family on Christmas morning.
I say get it while you can still find it because it sells out every year.
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