Blackberry jam

Contents:

Blackberry jam is known for its not too sweet and slightly sour flavor: a velvety preparation, which is often made with blackberries harvested in the summer during a walk in the countryside.

The blackberry jam lovers certainly tried it for breakfast, spread on a slice of bread or on a crunchy rusk with a little bit of butter, there are plenty of different ways to savor its tastiness. It is excellent, for example, in desserts, especially in tarts, or even as stuffing for crepes, croissants or biscuits. Last but not least, its combination with cheeses: it goes divinely with robiola or ricotta, but also the combination with semi-matured cheeses will totally satisfy you.

Let’s talk about the jam preparation. The recipe is really quick and simple: it only requires three ingredients, nothing else, nor any gelling ingredient such as pectin, a natural thickener often used for the preparation of jams and marmalades, or any other thickener. What are you waiting for? Let’s go to the stove!

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Ingredients

Here’s what you need to realize your blackberry jam:

  • 1 Kg of blackberries
  • 300 g of white or brown sugar
  • 1 lemon

If you don’t have wild blackberries available, you can use the fresh ones from organic farming, or those you will find at the supermarket. The important thing about fruits is to make sure they are perfectly intact, without bruises or mold.

Preparation

  • Sterilizing the jars is the very first and important step. Put them in a pot full of cold water together with the lids. Help yourself with a kitchen cloth to prevent the jars from touching each other, risking to break while boiling. Boil for 35-40 minutes and allow to cool completely.
  • Meanwhile, carefully wash and dry the blackberries. Put them in a saucepan together with the sugar and lemon peel.
  • Place on the stove and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally.
  • After about 20-30 minutes, you will notice that your jam will begin to thicken. About an hour later, the mixture will be ready.
  • Check the consistency of the jam with the saucer test: if by placing a teaspoon of your preparation on an inclined cold saucer it adheres to it without slipping, the consistency is perfect and you can finish cooking.
  • At this point you just have to remove the lemon peel and choose whether to leave the jam as it is or proceed by eliminating the blackberry seeds for a more velvety sensation on the palate. In case you want a seedless jam, pass it through a colander or blend it.
  • Transfer the blackberry jam into the previously sterilized glass jars and close them with the lid, letting them cool upside down in order to create the vacuum.

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Sugar free blackberry jam

Sugar helps to thicken the consistency of the preparation, but if you want to prepare a sugar free jam, you can use apples. The apple naturally contains pectin and helps the thickening of the mixture: add an apple for every kilo of fruit and that’s it.

Storage

You can keep the blackberry jam in sterilized jars by storing them in a cool and dry place. Once opened, however, keep it in the refrigerator for up to seven days.