We’ll close out the week with one more jam/preserve. Since we still had some blueberries and blackberries sitting around, I decided to turn them into another jam, and it turned out pretty well. And since it’s my own creation (yeah, I bet nobody’s ever combined those two before), I got to name it: Black ‘n Blue Jam. Clever, huh?
- 6 cups berries – I did 4 cups blueberries and 2 cups blackberries, partially because I had more blueberries, and partially because blackberries are seedier and I wanted to cut down on that a bit
- 1 orange
- 4 Tbsp lemon juice
- 4 1/2 cups sugar (this was cutting back too – sometimes the amount of sugar required is staggering)
- Pectin
Zest the orange, then peel and puree in a food processor. In a saucepan, combine the berries and zest, and mash a little to get the juices flowing. Simmer, and add the orange puree, lemon juice, and sugar, stirring well. When this is incorporated, add the pectin. I didn’t include any specifics, because pectin varies (liquid, dry, homemade, etc.). In most cases, there should be a table with a ratio of fruit-to-sugar-to-pectin on the container. I used a powder, which ended up being about 6 heaping tablespoons. Add this in slowly, stirring to dissolve. Bring to a rolling boil for a minute or two, then remove from heat. Process in jars for 10 minutes in boiling water.
I decided not to take any pictures of this, because it looks pretty much the same as every other dark-fruit-in-a-jar product I’ve made. It tastes different though.
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