Melhelix: My brain is way too tired to conjugate English properly. I just barely made it through the Italian passato prossimo earlier today. At this point I'm on autopilot. Ya'll are lucky I'm not randomly spitting out jam recipes. :D
budejovice: I don't know. We might be lucky if you spit out one or two. Blackberry season is right around the corner in Seattle. :)
Blackberry Jam! One of my favorites, I also love mixing it with raspberries.
You will need fruit, a pot, a stirring implement (spoon, silicone spatula, whatever), sugar, measuring cups, and a heat source. Also clean jars.
Wash your berries, core out the white bits with your fingernails or a knife. This is the longest part, goes a lot quicker if you have kids helping you. Remove absolutely any berries that are moldy. No mold! This is very important.
Put the now mangled berries in a measuring cup. Measure how much squashed berry goodness you have. You want to still be able to kind of identify berries, don't turn them into juice. Make a note of how much berry you are using.
Throw the berries in the pot on the stove. Turn the temperature of the burner up to a low-medium heat.
Now then, for roughly every 1 cup of mashed berries you want 1/2 cup of sugar. The exact amount depends on what specific berries you are using, how tart, etc. This makes for a jam that will behave like jam (not jelly) and will taste phenomenally delicious without sending you into a sugar coma. It's about 1/3 of the sugar used in store jams. Did I mention it's delicious?
For an 8 oz jar of jam, use 1 and 1/4 cup of berries, and just over a half cup of sugar.
Black berries are more tart than raspberries or strawberries. So if you are adding in raspberries, go a little less on the sugar.
Pour the sugar on the berries in the pot. It will immediately start breaking down the berries. Stir. Turn the temperature up to med-high. Stir often (but not continuously) for 15 minutes if you are doing one jar of jam. If you are doing a set of seven jars, cook for 25 minutes. The jam should be at a roiling boil. If it starts frothing, do not worry, just stir it in. At the end try and drop some from a spoon, it should want to cling.
Throw it in clean jars and you are good to go. Seal them in a hot water bath if you plan to store and use throughout winter.
Quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. Do it for a few nights and you will have amazing jam throughout the year. (I live in a house hold of 3 people. I make 48-52 8 oz jars to last from late summer all the way to early summer of the next year.)
