Mother badly alarmed in a jam (9)
I believe the answer is:
marmalade
'a jam' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'mother badly alarmed in' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (Ma is another word for mother or mum).
'badly' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in the wrong order).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'alarmed' with letters rearranged gives 'marlade'.
'ma' inserted within 'marlade' is 'MARMALADE'.
(Other definitions for marmalade that I've seen before include "Orange conserve" , "Preserve made with citrus fruits" , "group?" , "Spread" , "Eleven's [PRESERVE]" .)