Still wanting a recipe to use up that bag full of blackberries?
Look no further…
You will need:
Equal weights of blackberries and white sugar
A sachet of pectin
Pectin is the stuff that sets the jam – blackberries don’t contain much of it naturally
Enough clean, sterilised jars to store the finished product in
Jars
As a rough guide, 1.5 kilos of blackberries, when added to the 1.5 kilos of sugar will make enough jam to fill 6 standard-size jam jars. To sterilise the jars, wash and rinse thoroughly, and put the jars and lids on a tray in the oven at a medium heat. Leave them there whilst you’re making the jam.
Let’s start:
Put the berries into a large, cast iron pan, bring to the boil and simmer for about 8 minutes. The fruit should be soft.
Add the sugar and pectin, bring to the boil again, and let it do a rolling boil for about 10 minutes. Don’t stir.
The jam needs to reach a certain temperature to set – you’ll know when you’re near to that as the boil looks calmer, less frothy and will have less air bubbles. It also takes on a lovely glossy texture.
Test the jam for setting by taking out a small amount and putting it on a plate. If a skin begins to form, it’s ready.
Transfer the jam up to the neck of the hot jars. Exercise extreme caution as the jam will be at about the same temperature as the earth’s core at this point.
Seal the jars and label.
