Blackberry jam
- Sarah Cook
Save recipe
Makes roughly 2.2 litres (about 8 jam jars), easily halved
Easy
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Plus overnight soaking
A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.41 ratingsRate
loading...
Make this easy blackberry jam with your glut of summer fruit – perfect with fresh white bread. Use jam sugar (with added pectin) to make sure it sets properly
Egg-free
Gluten-free
Nut-free
Vegetarian
Ad
Skip to ingredients
Alternatives
Complete the dish
Loading...
Showing items 1 to 3 of 3
Easy white bread
A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.700 ratings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Units:
MetricUS
-
1.8kg blackberries
-
1 ½kg jam sugar
(the one with added pectin)
-
juice and pips of 1 lemon
-
finger-tip size knob of butter
(optional)
Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.
Nutrition: per serving
-
kcal44
-
fat0g
low
-
saturates0g
-
carbs12g
-
sugars12g
-
fibre0g
-
protein0g
-
salt0g
low
Ad
Method
-
step 1
The night before you make your jam, layer the blackberries and sugar together in a very large bowl, then cover and set aside at room temperature. This helps the sugar to start dissolving so you don’t run the risk of over-cooking the fruit when you actually begin to make the jam. The next morning, give everything a quick stir, then set aside again until you are ready to start cooking.
-
step 2
Before you start, put a small saucer in the freezer. Take a preserving pan or a large, wide-based pan (the wider and more open the pan, the faster the jam will be ready, so a preserving pan is really ideal) and tip the berries in, scraping out all the juices and any undissolved sugar. Stir in the lemon juice, then collect all the pips and secure them inside a tea-leaf strainer or piece of muslin before adding them to the pan (cooking the pips along with the fruit extracts the pectin they contain, helping your jam to set).
-
step 3
Start the blackberries over a low heat until all the sugar is completely dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins. Turn off the heat and spoon a little hot syrupy jam onto the chilled saucer. Once it's cool, push it with your finger. If it wrinkles a little, it’s ready and has reached setting point. If it's too runny to wrinkle, return the pan to the heat and boil in 2 or 3-minute stages, removing the pan from the heat each time you do the saucer check, until the jam wrinkles.
-
step 4
Skim off any excess scum, then stir in the knob of butter, if you want – this will help to dissolve any remaining scum. Leave the jam for 15 mins before ladling into sterilised jars – this allows the fruit to settle so it doesn’t sink to the bottom. The jam will keep in a cool, dark place for at least 6 months. Refrigerate jars once opened.
RECIPE TIPS
STORING YOUR JAM
For this recipe, you’ll need about 8 jam jars, 8 waxed discs and 8 jar lids or cellophane circles with rubber bands. Remember to label each jar once filled, including the date, and cover with squares or circles of pretty fabric if you’re giving them away to friends. You can buy all these from kitchen shops or online from lakeland.com.
STERILISING YOUR JARS
Wash them in hot, soapy water, then dry in an oven heated to 170C/150C fan/ gas 3 for at least 10 minutes. Always ladle the jam into jars while the jars are still warm.
VARIATIONS
To make Raspberry & rose jam, use 1.8kg raspberries, leaving out the lemon juice and pips and adding 2-3 tbsp rosewater instead. For Zingy blackcurrant jam, use 1.8kg blackcurrants and add a splash of cassis. For Strawberry & vanilla jam, scrape the seeds from 2 vanilla pods into 1.8kg strawberries as you layer with the sugar, then poke the scraped pods in too, fishing them out before ladling the jam into jars.
OUR DOWNLOADABLE LABELS
Download our printable preserves labels – perfect for writing cook’s notes and gift messages. You can find them here.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2010
Ad
Comments, questions and tips
Rate this recipe
What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
CommentQuestionTip
Overall rating
A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.41 ratings
Ad
Ad
Get 3 months of Good Food All Access
Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.
Loading...
Ad
Loading...
Loading...