So, did you go blackberry picking this weekend? I hope so! Like I said in my post about Free Food, now is the perfect time for blackberry picking. There are many recipes for using blackberries; crumbles, jams, smoothies, icecream and many more!
So, here as promised, is my mum’s delicious blackberry jam recipe…
Ingredients/Equipment
- 6-8 jam jars washed and dry
- A preserving pan
- 2 or 3 saucers
- A piece of muslin and string
- 4lbs/1.8kg of blackberries
- Rind and juice of 3 lemons – save pips
- 4lbs/1.8kg granulated sugar
- Cinammon Stick
- 1/2 pint/280ml of water
Place the lemon rind and pips into the muslin and tie with the string to make a little bag.
Place blackberries in the preserving pan with the water, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and muslin bag.
Bring gently to the boil and then simmer until the blackberries become soft.This should take 30min or so. Some of the more unripe fruit will not become so soft but that’s ok.
Add the sugar, stir and let it dissolve slowly.
Once the sugar has fully dissolved, bring to a rapid boil for about 20 min. This thickens the mixture.
Stir frequently so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
In the meantime, prepare the jars by putting them in a hot oven to sterilise. Leave them there until the jam is ready.
Place 2 or 3 saucers in the fridge.
After the 20 min, take a tablespoon of jam, pour it on to one of the cold saucers and put it back in the fridge.
When it’s cool, run your finger across the saucer, drawing a line through the jam. If the line remains and the jam ripples, it is ready for bottling.
If the line disappears, let the jam boil for another 10min and try again.
Depending on the acidity of the fruit, it may take a little longer to set. You will have to keep testing it until it is ready.
When it is ready, remove the muslin bag. It’s up to you if want to remove the cinnamon stick or not.
Then bottle whilst the jars are hot but do not put the lids on.
Cover the hot jars of jam with a clean tea towel until cooled.
When cold, put the lids on, label and store in a dark place.
Well, I hope you enjoy the jam! :) Look out for other Wild Food recipes in the future.
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8 Comments on "Wild Food Recipes – Blackberries"
I rather overboiled mine and it’s set VERY hard – still, mixed in with the shedloads of apples I have it is still likely to make nice crumble/pie, rather than used as jam.
The bramble and apple jelly I made is lovely though. I like this time of year :)
Hey Dottyspots, Thanks for visiting us! Sorry your jam turned out a bit solid :( You could melt it a bit and pour it over icecream :)
Sxx
I bet it’d do well in rice pudding!
My Mum adds apple in with her Blackberry jam, absolutely gorgeous on a hot muffin with philadelphia cheese. I guess I should really learn how to make jam one day!
We may look to make a special post on Jam making just for you sarah! ;)
I think if I heated it much more it would turn into hard-boiled blackberry sweets (which did occur to me as my daughter was trying to chip some out of the jar :D )
Planning on adding some to apple crumble tomorrow.
Mmm, blackberry and apple jam! Living out in Tenerife, I miss the English seasonal fruits like black berries and have “Higo Picos” instead which are prickly pears which are used here to make Grappa and jam, they taste lovely, if you´d like a recipe posted please let me know! Here at the moment Figs are in season and they are juicy and sweet, you can use them in salads, they go lovely with Parma Ham, just like melon does! Another idea for your jam making is, if you have made huge quantities like I use to , when I made jam in Englnad you can make pretty jam jars and give them for Christmas gifts in home made hampers, people love them and because not only can they taste how sweet the jam is but they get to taste your love that you put into making the jam :) Marylou xxx
Have just seen that the previous posts are from several years ago, but just want to let you know that I’ve just picked a load of juicy blackberries from outside our house here in Portugal and looking forward to trying the jam recipe tomorrow. If the lady with the prickly pear recipe is still out there I’d love to have it as we have them and figs too! For tonight though we’ll be having creamy semolina with crushed blackberries – yummy!
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