It is berry season!
We love to pick our own berries, anything from strawberries and raspberries to blackberries and blueberries. They are just so delicious.
We have been out picking blackberries the last couple of weekends and got a good portion each time. We freeze some and use them for smoothies, we eat some fresh on oatmeal or with other cereals, and then we use some for jam.
This year we decided to be more adventurous, so we did three different kinds of blackberry jam, each with its own unique flavour.
We also discovered the wonderful use of chia seeds to make the jam thicker without using pectin. The seeds will swell up and create a gelatinous texture and will make the jam really nice and thick. The amount of seeds we added in these jams gives a medium stiff jam, feel free to play around with the amount to suit your preferred texture.
And now to the recipes 🙂
The first flavour we made was Blackberry and Strawberry Jam:
Ingredients:
250g blackberries
145g strawberries
145g brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chia seeds
Directions:
Wash the fruit and remove the stem from the strawberries. Cut Strawberries in quarters.
Add blackberries, strawberries, sugar and lemon juice to a pot. Turn the heat to medium. There is no need to add water, even if you feel the texture is a bit dry at first. The berry juices will soon be flowing and it will be perfect for the end result of the jam.
Bring the pot to a boil and stir frequently. Keep a close eye on the pot, so it doesn’t boil over the top.
Boil for about 10-15 minutes till you feel the texture getting a little bit thicker.
Then add the chia seeds and stir. Boil for another 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. The texture should now be a lot thicker, but if you feel you would like it even thicker, just add another spoonful of chia seeds and boil for another minute or so.
It is now ready to go into the jars.
Prepare your jars:
There are many ways to prepare your jars for jamming, so find the one most suitable for you.
The way we do it is as simple as this:
Clean the jars that we want to use.
Boil water in a kettle.
Pour water into and all over the jars in the sink with the drain closed.
Let sit for a few minutes.
Remove with tongs or other equipment, so you don’t touch the inside of the jars or the lids.
Pour jam into jars and close.
The end!
We don’t boil the jars again as some recipes suggests. We find that the jams will last for a long time (6 months to 1 year, sometimes even longer), and once opened, we keep them in the fridge.
The second flavour we made was Blackberry Cinnamon Jam:
Ingredients:
450g blackberries
100g brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons chia seeds
Directions:
Wash the blackberries.
Add blackberries, sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon juice to a pot. Turn the heat to medium. There is no need to add water, even if you feel the texture is a bit dry at first. The berry juices will soon be flowing and it will be perfect for the end result of the jam.
Bring the pot to a boil and stir frequently. Keep a close eye on the pot, so it doesn’t boil over the top.
Boil for about 10-15 minutes till you feel the texture getting a little bit thicker.
Then add the chia seeds and stir. Boil for another 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. The texture should now be a lot thicker, but if you feel you would like it even thicker, just add another spoonful of chia seeds and boil for another minute or so. It is now ready to go into the jars.
We leave the cinnamon stick in the jar so it keeps giving flavour to the jam, but you can take it out if you prefer.
There are also a million different options for adding spices to your jam.
Try a mix of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg.
The third flavour we made was Blackberry and Golden Plum Jam:
Ingredients:
600g blackberries
300g golden plum
200g brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons chia seeds
Directions:
Wash the fruit and remove the stone from the golden plums. Cut plums in quarters or smaller pieces.
Add blackberries, plums, sugar and lemon juice to a pot. Turn the heat to medium. There is no need to add water, even if you feel the texture is a bit dry at first. The berry juices will soon be flowing and it will be perfect for the end result of the jam.
Bring the pot to a boil and stir frequently. Keep a close eye on the pot, so it doesn’t boil over the top.
Boil for about 15-25 minutes till you feel the texture getting a little bit thicker.
Then add the chia seeds and stir. Boil for another 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. The texture should now be a lot thicker, but if you feel you would like it even thicker, just add another spoonful of chia seeds and boil for another minute or so. It is now ready to go into the jars.
There are endless possibilities for the combination of fruits and spices, so start with a basic jam and explore from there.
The jams work extremely well on freshly baked bread as well as on top of a good quality vanilla ice cream 🙂
-Enjoy!
This looks so good! And I bet it tastes amazing.