Blackberry-Blueberry Jam

Colleen: "My Mom was in town this week so we seized the moment and went blueberry/blackberry picking, it was a stinkin humid morning but we ended up picking two gallons worth! I have recently (within the last few years) ventured into canning. (I have a pear tree in my yard that I try and take advantage of) Since I had two gallons of berries I thought I would try out this recipe, I googled Low Sugar Jam and this is what came up. I enjoyed the recipe but I will try out something else next year, the black berries can be tart and full of lots of seeds. I might just stick with blueberries from now on, but until then we will enjoy these."

Blackberry-Blueberry Jam

4 quarts mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.)

4 tart apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 cup honey, more if your berries are particularly tart
2/3 cup sugar

1/2 package pectin (Sure-Jell, Certo, or the like, about 2 1/2 T.)

Clean and sterilize jars, lids, and rings.

Put clean, stemmed berries into a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Pare and chop apples. I used Granny Smith, but any tart cooking apple will do.

Take a bit out on a spoon and put it on a cold plate. Are the juices watery-looking? Keep cooking until you when you put a little dab on a plate it has a more syrupy consistency. Let the dab cool a bit. It should begin to set up a little. It doesn’t have to be terribly thick or gelatinous (you want to be able to spread it on your toast without undue effort). If you have much foam, skim it off with a spoon. At this point, turn off the heat and ladle the jam into the jars.

Then I fill them up within 1/2 inch of the top, add lids and loosely screw down the rings.

Lastly they go into the canner for a 5 minute process and they are done. Let them cool. Tighten lids up a bit. Over the next hour or so, the lids will seal with a pop. After they seal, if you press a finger on the top of the lid, the lid will be pressed in and will not pop back and forth. That’s a good seal.

This recipe makes 5 pints.

Recipe Source littlehouseinthesuburbs.com