Blackberry and apple jam recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Jam Jelly and Preserves | 237 comments
It was Anne Mary that pointed out that apple and blackberry jam would be full of blackberry pips.
“They’d get stuck in your teeth and drive you mad. Stick to bramble jelly.”
I love jelly. We make loads of jelly every year. More often than not it is used as a base for a sauce rather than dolloped on a plate of roast lamb or pork.
Imagine my delight when I found this recipe for Blackberry and Apple Jam in my aunt’s ancient handwritten cookbook. As it is sieved there are no seeds and the jam is delicious, spread on hot buttered toast in the morning.
Blackberry and Apple Jam recipe
Ingredients:
- 1k (roughly 2lb) of blackberries
- 350g (12ozs) of apples (eating apples, windfalls are fine)
- Water
- White granulated sugar
Method:
- Core and roughly chop the apples (skin on).
- Put the apples, cores and blackberries in a large preservaing pan or large heavy bottomed saucepan. Add just enough water to cover and simmer until soft.
- Sieve the softened fruit and weigh the sieved pulp (discard the skins and seeds left in the sieve). Add 450g (1lb) of sugar for each 450g (1lb) of sieved pulp.
- Put sieved pulp and sugar into a large heavy bottomed saucepan (or preserving pan) and heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring the jam to the boil and continue to boil very rapidly for about 8-10 minutes until the jam reaches setting point. (What is setting point? See tricks and tips below).
- When the jam has set, carefully pour into warm, sterilised jars, using a ladle or small jug (How to sterilise jars? See tricks and tips below)
- Cover the jars with tight fitting screw-top lids, or waxed disks and cellophane pot covers (waxed disks, wax facing downwards and plastic covers secured with plastic bands).
- Label when cold and store in a cool, dark place, away from damp.
Tricks and Tips:
- Jam “set” or “setting point”:
Getting the right set can be tricky. I have tried using a jam thermometer but find it easier to use the following method. Before you start to make the jam, put a couple of plates in the fridge so that the warm jam can be drizzled onto a cold plate (when we make jam we often forget to return the plate to the fridge between tests, using two plates means that you have a spare cold plate). Return the plate to the fridge to cool for approx two minutes. It has set when you run your finger through it and leave a crinkly track mark. If after two minutes the cooled jam is too liquid, continue to boil the jam, testing it every few minutes until you have the right set. The jam is far more delicious if it is slightly runny. - Sterilising the jars:
We collect jars all year round for our jelly, chutney and jam making sessions. I try to soak off labels and store the clean jars and metal plastic coated screw-top lids in an accessible place. The sterilising method that we used is simple. Just before making the jam, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
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Hello! I am just about to try this recipe also. Can’t wait! Nikki said she also made jam with the left over pulp with seeds in. What would be the recipe for this, does it come out well?
Thanks!
Trish
Hello Kev
Thanks for that.
Re: the sterilising
160C is about Gas Mark 3 for those with gas.
just wanted to say thanks for the great recipe. i made this and then used the left over pulp with the seeds to make jam also.
it was so popular we are on the second jar already!
hi
i make a lots of jam (mainly apricot and raspberry as they are my fav)i have been given some blackberries so thought i would try your recipe. i am just wondering if it would taste ok with cooking apples as i have some falling off my tree at the moment.
Hi Nikki
I always use cooking apples for mine.
A lovely way of getting extra fun out of walking the dog – which I love to do- is take a carrier bag or two and see what I can find in the hedgerows. The recipes here look great and I intend now that I am recently retired to spend a lot more time make produce from hedgerows etc. Thank you so much for your generosity of spirit in putting these recipes on the web for us all to use.
Thanks for this. I’m not sure why I didn’t put the lids on straight away but you can be sure I will do in the future. I am going to try reboiling the jam to see if that works, can’t bring myself to throw it all away!
Hi Fiona McGuckin
Hope that it worked for you!
Hi Sarah
Making jam and bottling it cold spells disaster.
You need to bottle and seal it immediately in hot sterilised jars. Then it will keep.
There is a possible way around your problem. Remove the mould very carefully, using a clean sterilised spoon. Wipe the space between the jam and the top of the jar with sterile kitchen roll. A new piece for each jar. Then remove the next layer of jam (an inch to be safe to be rid of the mould spores). Heat to bubbling point. Leave to boil for a few minutes and pot into hot sterile jars and seal immediately.
Just wondering why you didn’t do this first time? Your reboiled jam won’t be as good as the first batch might have been. You can play with the ingredients but not the method.
Hi, I have made this jam and it turned out realy well. We have just finished the first jar and when I went to open the next one to my horror I found that it had gone mouldy on the top as had all of the other jars. Is there anything I can do about this? Would it work if I scraped the mould off the top, reboiled it and then put it into new jars? or am I going to have to throw it all away? I think that I went worng by not filling the jars to the top and I put the lids on when the jam had gone cold and not when it was boiling hot. Any advice would be grateful as it is was first time making jam and i’m feeling disheartened now!
Hello,
Thanks for the advice, will have another go today- also going to have a try with the rosehip and apple jelly- sounds delicious!
Thanks Fiona