Amid the frenzy of holiday packing, driving around Hampshire
collecting flower pots for my brother and getting the other half to chase out
huge spiders from the corridor (note to self - more conkers needed!), I freed
up a few hours to have a go at jam making.
Well, what else was I going to do with all the blackberries harvested
this year? If anyone out there has a
quick and easy way of making blackberry liqueur please send over details but I’m
sure that with a bit of google research I could probably conjure up a recipe
for some wicked berry vodka in next to no time.
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| Preparing to jam it up |
Unbelievably, we’d amassed over 7lb of berries (blackberry
and blackcurrant) in the space of 2 years which is pretty good going for our
very small shrub patch. All have now
been pulped, boiled and potted into jam jars ready to set in a nice cool, dark
cupboard.
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| It's never all going to fit |
Jam making is longer process than I thought although fairly
straight forward once you’ve gathered up all your ingredients. The hardest part is trying to figure out what
quantity of jars you’ll need as it’s not easy to visualise the end result from the
fruits you start with.
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| Before pulping down |
Big pot and a good bit of elbow grease needed to squish your
fruit down into a nice gloopy pulp.
Horrified at the amount of caster sugar that goes into
jam. I used 10 lb for my 7 lb worth of
berries. The NHS will be suing me for
compensation as diabetes levels are bound to go through the roof after a few
rounds of toast with some of this stuff!
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| After a good mushing, bring to the boil |
Next a good boiling.
Jam might look pretty harmless in a nice glass jar but heated up, it’s
lethal. Hot jam on skin or even on the
cooker should be avoided at all costs. Ouch!
When it cools on the hob or your utensils, it’s like trying to remove
superglue. Clean as you go and don’t get
too close once the boiling really gets going unless you’ve got asbestos arms.
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| Certifiably high in sugar |
After a good boil add Certo.
If by this time you haven’t given up the will to live what with all that
effort in mushing, stirring, avoiding the molten jam lava and realising your
pot is too small then you are now only one small step away from preserve
nirvana. Certo, probably short for
certifiably high in sugar, is the magical ingredient that will turn your liquid
Ribena into lovely, thick tasty jam.
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| Gonna need a bigger pot |
Leave to cool for a bit and pot up into sterilised jam
jars. Confession to make here – I didn’t
sterilise mine. No-one ever died from
using a brand new jar straight from the shop without sterilising it first,
right? And besides which for those OCD
cooks reading this, there was also a cat watching so I guess more germs. Maybe the odd hair or two. Though I did wash my hands beforehand. Well, before stroking the cat that is but
seriously, I can assure you that there are unlikely to be any fatalities in our
family resulting from jam consumption made with unsterilized jars or using
feline catering assistants.
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| Can I help? |
Potting up jam into jars – get a special shiny funnel thingy
to help. Ideal for messy and cack-handed
cooks like me who get a bit carried away when ladling out sloppy stuff into
containers with small openings. Even the
cat was impressed by my dexterity and lack of sticky residue on the kitchen
table. Oh and yes, I am wearing a pink towelling turban.
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| She's bound to make a mess |
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| Cor - she didn't spill a drop! |
Finally add a circle of wax paper, a nice air tight lid and
not forgetting a label. Very important
to stick a date on your jar especially if like me, you’re then going to leave
it in a cupboard for the next decade or survivors come across it in the rubble
of your house after the apocalypse.
Voila! Nineteen jars
of lovely home-made blackberry jam.
Tried some on my toast this morning and mmmm, it was delicious.
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| Guess what you're getting for Christmas? |
