pisco makes…..blackberry and apple jam!
It’s blackberry season in Britain now which means that pretty much every hedgerow in the land is teeming with free fruity deliciousness. Can hedgerows teem? I don’t know. But if they can they are, with fruit.
It’s also apple season, which is a fantastic coincidence because it means that, with a few windfalls and a couple of hours of blackberry picking you have the basic ingredients to make one of the nicest, freest, jammiest jams out there. So I did. Like so.
While you’re at it, stick a couple of saucers or plates in the fridge for later on.
Then, you get your apples. I used Bramleys, because they’re ace for pectin and have a nice taste. I also used more than three, but forgot to take a photo until I only had three left. Peel them, cut out any nasty bits and chuck them in a pan with a bit of water.
Stick about twice the weight of blackberries as apples in too. (Most recipes will tell you to do this in two separate pans but there really is absolutely no point).
Simmer it until the apple starts to mush and the blackberries leak their juices. Once it’s getting pretty liquidy, you add the sugar. It’s about equal parts sugar to fruit by weight. All you need to do is add all the sugar at once, keeping the heat low and stir it in until it dissolves.
The minute the sugar is stirred in, though, you’ll notice the jam-to-be going distinctly more glisten-y. I’m not sure it shows up particularly well, but I took a photo just in case and have stuck it in the gallery above. For jam porn purposes.
This is the tricky part. Once all the sugar’s dissolved, you need to boil the jam vigorously until it reaches setting point. It’s about 10 minutes into a boil, or when it hits, say, 103 degrees C or so. The best way to tell you’re getting there is to listen to the noise of the boil: little crackles is how it starts, and it’ll move to big plopping boiling noises as it progresses. Once it starts making this noise, you can test for setting point by taking a teaspoon of jam and putting it onto your cold saucers that are fresh from the fridge.
Wait for the jam to cool a bit then push at it with your finger. If it’s reached setting point it’ll wrinkle on the top and probably not rush back to fill the gap you’ve just poked in it. If it’s not at setting point it’ll still be really liquidy, in which case you just have to boil it longer and keep testing every few minutes. I’ve put a picture in the gallery to try and show what it looked like in this particular jam.
Once you’re at setting point, take the jam off the heat: if it keeps boiling for too much longer it’ll go solid and scary and everyone will laugh at you. Unless you like your jam in slices.
Give it a few minutes to cool down slightly and then you’re ready to pot. Ideally you want to pot as hot as you possibly can in order to kill bacteria etc, so consider the virtues of wearing rubber gloves to let you handle it much, much hotter than you otherwise would be able to. Potting’s simple: get your jars out from under the heat and, um, pour the jam in. Life is made easier if you have a jam funnel and a pyrex jug you can ladle the jam from the pan into.
Now it’s just a case of getting the clean, dry lids put/screwed on as soon as you possibly can. Again, preferably when the pots are way too hot to handle with your bare hands.
And you are done!
If everything’s gone ok, the jam should pretty much keep indefinitely as long as its unopened. If you want to be absolutely certain, you can sterilize the full, sealed jars in a pan of boiling water for 10-15 minutes but, if you’re planning to eat the jam over the next year or so, it should be fine as is.
As long as you stick it in the fridge once it’s opened. Otherwise it will KILL YOU.
This is awesome!
I have not made jam before because I never understand the recipes. When do you stop boiling? When is there a “sheen” on it? Pictures are super-helpful!
I intend to eat it all when you are not looking. And blame Oz.
Posted 3 years, 5 months agoI don’t reckon looking for a sheen is a very useful way of doing it, just because the boil is so vigorous you’re unlikely to be able to tell. The easiest way to tell is with a jam thermometer and listening out for the change in noise of the bubbles. It sounds like some sort of secret knowledge that you only get through loads of experience, but it’s honestly not – you’ll know it when you hear it. Even I can do it!
And just keep testing for setting point every couple of minutes. That’s your best guide.
Posted 3 years, 5 months ago