Jam making

I promised to share with you my jam-making exploits, so here goes.

Of the many joys moving into a new house brings, discovering the garden and all the varied things it has to offer over the course of the year is one of the most interesting, and the one that usually brings the more pleasant surprises.  One of my happiest discoveries has been that I only need venture to the bottom of my garden to forage for blackberries.

The less ripe berries are higher in pectin and
 so it is a good idea to include a few of these

I decided that it was time I did something with these blackberries.  Never having made jam before, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try.  However, blackberries are a low-pectin fruit so need some assistance when it comes to getting a good set on your jam.  I read that a good trick is to add a few squeezes of lemon juice to the fruit before you start the heating process.  As ever, Mother was on hand with advice, and suggested I combine the blackberries with apples, which are a high-pectin fruit.

Attempt #1
For my first attempt I used apples from the garden.  I used equal amounts of blackberries and apples, and matched the combined weight of the fruit with granulated sugar.

It started out promising, but because the apples were eaters not cookers, they didn't dissolve.  Never mind I thought, I'll strain the mixture and make a blackberry and apple jelly (apparently it's a jelly if it's strained).  Not having a jam thermometer, I used the cold plate test to try to judge when the mixture was ready. 

The cold plate test involves putting a drop of the mixture onto a cold plate (pop in the fridge or freezer), letting it cool and then gently pressing from the side with your little finger; if the jelly wrinkles it's ready to set.

Unfortunately I didn't really know what I was looking for, and overcooked it.  The result, when it cooled, was a very sticky mess at the bottom of the jar!  Not wanting to throw it away I put it in the fridge anyway, and I'm glad I did.  In a lesson that most things are salvageable, Maud helpfully advised that I could reheat the mixture with some extra water.  The result of this was a much more pleasing, and edible, set jelly.  It is rather sweet, probably because I used eating apples (which are sweeter than cooking apples).

Attempt #2
A definite improvement.  This time I limited myself to blackberries.  I used equal weight of blackberries and granulated sugar.

Early on in the cooking process

Having overcooked once before, I had a better idea of what consistency I was looking for to know whether the jam would set.  When doing the cold plate test you're not looking for wrinkles so much as signs of a skin forming on the top.  Basically when the jam on the plate cools, ask yourself whether it is the right consistency for putting on a scone.  If the answer is yes, your jam is done!  And a good tip from Maud: don't forget to take your pan off the heat while doing the cold plate test, or your jam mixture will carry on cooking!

I was really quite proud of my second attempt.  It tastes rather good, even if I do say so myself, and went very well some homemade scones.

Attempt #3
Mother gave me some Bramley apples from her garden, so I thought I would try blackberry and apple again.  This time I cut the apples up a lot smaller, and being cooking apples they dissolved (which meant no need to strain).  I used equal weights of blackberries and apples.

For this attempt I used jam sugar, my first time using this.  Jam sugar has pectin added to it, and so helps with the setting process.  As apples are high in pectin I used slightly less sugar than the combined weight of the fruit.

The result is not as sweet as the first, and I prefer it for this.  It has quite a firm set, but my no means is this too much.  In all, a successful first attempt with jam sugar.


It's going to take a lot of scones for me to get through all this jam...



This is my second attempt and is a simple blackberry jam.