Blackberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pick over and wash the blackberries.
Put them in a preserving kettle with the water and cook gently until soft, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Press the cooked blackberries through a sieve into a large bowl or jar.
Take 1 quart of the pulp and place it in a porcelain-lined kettle.
Make the jam
Bring the pulp to a boil, then add the heated sugar.
Cook rapidly for 15 minutes, shaking the kettle frequently to prevent sticking.
Test for jelling; when it hardens, fill small jars or glasses.
Seal the jars tightly once cooled.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Blackberries
- Provide the fruit flavour, colour and the pectin-bearing pulp that thickens the jam.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set into a firm, spreadable gel as it cooks.
- Water
- Helps the blackberries soften so their pulp can be pressed through the sieve.
The step that matters
Cook rapidly for 15 minutes after adding the sugar. Sugar and pectin only set into a gel at a high enough concentration and temperature. Under-cooking leaves runny jam, while over-cooking can darken and dull the flavour, so keep the boil steady and test for jelling.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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