Blackberry Jam Recipe

Blackberry jam.  Don’t the very words just make you think of open fires and wood smoke, Christmas and snow?  I’ve had enough of this faux, drippy extended half-Indian summer– I like my seasons to be more definite: if it’s summer it should be hot so I can have a BBQ; if it’s Autumn it should be chilly so I can wear a faux fur and bake pies.  And make jam.  In a way my jam making is a kind of autumnal offering to whoever might be ‘up there’ in return for those cold, crisp mornings when you can sit inside with tea and toast and a dose of Eamon Holmes buffooning around on This Morning.  I’m sending out jammy signals to the Mother Earth – send me some frosty mornings and dark nights; I need an excuse to buy some new boots.

Blackberry Jam

Makes around 2 Kilner jars full

600g blackberries
600g caster sugar
A teaspoon of butter (NOT margarine)

Wash your blackberries and take out the little leaves and stem things – these can make jam eating a very unpleasant experience.  Put them in a sturdy pan, preferable non-stick, heavy based or a ‘jam pan’ if you have one.

Add 30ml of water to the pan and around a tablespoon of lemon juice, plus an extra squeeze.  Bring everything to the boil and then lower the temperature so the fruit is simmering.  The fruit needs to simmer for around 20 minutes, until the berries are yield softly if you push them with a spoon.

On a low heat, add the sugar – try not to gasp at the amount of sugar that’s going in! – and then stir until dissolved.  Bring the jam back to the boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes, don’t stir.  Don’t go off and do something else at this stage as it can boil over and it’s a pain to clean up.

Jam setting point is 105C.  If you don’t have a thermometer then after 10 minutes tip the pan a little and the jam should have become thicker.  If it hasn’t then leave it for a few minutes more but beware – if you go past the setting point for jam then when it cools it will go solid!  If you start to smell a slight burned sugar smell then take it off the heat immediately.

Put your butter on a fork and skim it across the top of the pan to dissolve any scum then leave for 15 minutes to cool.  Pour into jars – any old jar will do but I like Kilner jars as they look pretty.

Serving suggestion: whip up some hot drop scones and eat with butter and the blackberry jam.