Homemade Blackberry Jam

Making Blackberry Jam (without a canner, without sugar and without enough blackberries)

Almost four years ago my Dad planted a blackberry bush in our backyard. This summer brought a bumper crop of blackberries so I need to come up with different ways of using them. My first try was to make some blackberry jam. Here is a little how-to for the improvisers among us. Eat your heart out Bonne Mamon. I plan to give a couple of these away as gifts - there is only so much jam one girl can eat!

1. You really need about 3 pints of fruit for the recipe I used. I had 6 cups of blackberries from our garden but you need to mush up the fruit and then have at least 3 cups as a result. My 6 cups of blackberries were not enough so I had to improvise and added a pint of blueberries that I had in my fridge.


2. I don't have a canner so I boiled the jars in a big pot to sterilize them.

3. I put the mushed fruit and 3/4 cup of water in a medium pot. I wasn't sure which brand of pectin to buy at the store but ended up with SURE-JELL Lower Sugar. This means you can use Splenda in your recipe. I added the whole packet gradually to the fruit.

4. I then brought it to a rolling boil (doesn't stop boiling even when stirred). I kept it boiling for 1 minute and then removed it from heat.

5. Only then do you add the Splenda (1/2 cup)......and your done! Almost.



6. I poured the jam into four jars I had. I don't have a canner but the canning instructions said to put the filled jars back into the canner and boil for 10 mins ensuring that there is 1-2 inches of water above the jar. I figured I could do this in my large pot.

7. To experiment I only boiled 2 jars and put the other two in the fridge. The test to see if the jar has been sealed is to press the top with your finger and see if the metal pops back. Amazingly it seems to have worked. The two in the fridge pop back but the ones I boiled do not. Presumably this means they will keep much longer....or poison the people I gift them to......

I would love to know if anyone that reads this post tries to make the jam or maybe comes up with some cool ways to decorate the jars.