Homemade Blackberry Jam

Every summer when the weather starts to get warm, my mom and I set aside a date to pick blackberries. I always look forward to spending the day with her in the summer sun, talking and exchanging stories while we pick berries. I really cherish our mother-daughter time now that I have a family of my own. For one day, I get to be the kid again and spend a summer afternoon in the kitchen making memories with my mom like I did growing up.

Homemade Blackberry Jam

Author: Stacy Dutton

Type: jams and preserves

Serves: ~10 pints

Ingredients

5¾ cups crushed blackberries (pick or buy 6 1-pint boxes or 12 cups of fresh berries)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (juice from 2 lemons)
1 box MCP Pectin
½ teaspoon butter (to reduce foaming if desired)
8 cups sugar

Instructions

Prepare your canning jars: sterilize the jars (we ran ours through the hot water rinse in the dishwasher) and sterilize the lids (we put boiling water over our lids and let them soak until we were ready).
Mash blackberries thoroughly, one cup at a time. Use liquid measuring cup to measure exact amount of prepared fruit into a large pot. Stir in 1 package of pectin and add lemon juice. Bring to a boil, while stirring.
Once at high boil, stir in all the sugar. Continue stirring.
Keep an eye on the boil. Once it hits a roiling boil (you are unable to stir it down) add butter to prevent foaming.
Boil and stir for exactly 4 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly ladle into sterilized canning jars, filling each jar within ¼ inch from the top. Wipe jar rims and threads and cover.
Let prepared jars stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Most jars will set up in several hours.

Homemade Blackberry Jam {www.evermine.com}

My mom and I always enjoy giving our jam to family and friends. This year we used the Floral Baby style labels and tags in purple to dress up our jam. Next year, I am thinking of altering the ingredients list. For instance. I found a recipe for blackberry jam that calls for triple sec with a description that describes it as a “true blue-ribbon-worthy jam.” Sounds good to me!