I have a love-hate relationship with wild Himalayan blackberries. I love their luscious dark tender berries, but I hate their thorny invasive brambles taking over my yard. This morning my kids and their best friend made it their mission to pick as many plump juicy blackberries they could in our back yard. After eating handful after handful, they brought in just over two cups of berries.
When I asked what they wanted to make with them, they both said blackberry jam. So blackberry jam it is. This recipe uses no pectin and unless properly preserved, should be eaten within a week. Raspberries can easily be substituted for blackberries and the recipe itself is very easy. Just remember the number 2. I hope you enjoy the harvest of this late summer season.
Blackberry or Raspberry Jam without Pectin
2 cups of crushed blackberries or raspberries (I crush mine by putting all the berries inside a cup/bowl and smooshing them with a spoon)
2 cups of sugar
2 tsp. of lemon juice
Directions:
In a small pan cook blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice on high heat for 5 minutes and reduce to medium-high heat and cook an additional 15 minutes. Skim the foam off and store in a heat-proof container. The jam will thicken as it cools.
*To make seedless jam, strain the berries in a medium mesh sieve before cooking.
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I’m not much of a fan of blackberries, but I bet thought would be great on some English muffins or toast or even slathered on pancakes.
Mmmmmmm berry jelly….my favorite!
That jam looks wonderful… and I love how simple the recipe is! I bet it would make a delicious cake filling, too!
I just bought blackberries today. I love the taste. Your jam looks yummy!
Kudos to you, Alice, for taking that first shot! Red and reddish/purple colors are so hard to photograph, and yours is beautiful!
I know your daughters will remember that day years and years later. I still remember making strawberry and apricot jam with my mom during the summer and I have to make us a batch or two or there is just something missing!
Looks as pretty as jewelry to me!
Mmmmm jam….just picked about 2kg/4lbs of blackberries from hedge rows (would have cost £20/$30 in my local store)….double mmmm; free jam.
So Bomb!!!!! I just made like 3 cups worth and it turned out really good…maybe a little sweet
Great recipee for first timers!!
Can your kids pick blackberries for me? I really want to make a pie! Your jam looks good!
Thanks for all the comments everyone!
Randall: So glad you liked it.. it is a very easy recipe for beginners. I think that’s why I like it so much!
Thanks for guiding me to this recipe. I can so relate to the love/hate thing. Blackberries come on the most horrible thorny vines. I’ve just been in the backyard today trimming things down (after much neglect) and I am all scratched up. Cant wait to make mincemeat of them now lol! Great pictures by the way.
GREAT photos – I love making jam such as this … made my first couple of batch a couple weeks ago – sooo good, especially if you pick your own berries!
I just made this yesterday and we love it! I almost ate the whole thing. I agree with Randall with the sweetness but we didn’t mind that. Giving some to my bf’s parents this weekend too.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
Randall and Dy: Feel free to reduce the sugar by 1/2 a cup. Just remember the sugar helps as a preservative so you don’t want to reduce by too much. Hope that helps and I’m glad you liked it!
Beautiful berries – I love blackberries – and simply gorgeous jam!
This jam looks so wholesome & exciting to me. Am sure would go great with ice cream…uuummmm. I love homemade jam. Yet to try with blackberry.
I made 3 batches for my daughter, who is off to university this fall. They turned out perfectly. Thank you for the simple, healthy recipe.
This is a fabulous recipe. I found a similar version to this once with strawberries and I’m so pleased to see you can mimic it with other fruit. It tastes divine – I’ve canned a couple of bottles of it so I can have it in the months to come!
Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
I’ve followed your recipe to the letter and by now I’ve stored a approximatly a gallon of foam in a large heat proof container, what do I do now?
Thanks everyone for your comments.. I appreciate your encouragement!
Eve: I’m not sure how you got a gallon of foam, this recipe will yield about 2 cups. You will get a little foam after you’ve cooked the fruit down. You can remove the foam or leave it. But the foam should be very minimal. Let me know if I can help anymore.. and if you could let me know what quantity you made this recipe as well as how long you cooked it, I can ask my canning expert friends how to help you.
I picked some blackberries this afternoon and made my 1st ever batch of jam following your recipe. I used a little more lemon juice and a little less sugar than you suggset, but its fantastic! I’m very proud of myself! Thank you so much for sharing such a great, simple recipe
Can you freeze this jam as well?
Stephanie, I asked Marsula, a canning expert your question and she says, ” You can certainly freeze it, as long as they leave plenty of headspace for the frozen jam to expand into.” Hope that helps!
Looks just beautiful. I’m making raspberry jam tomorrow, but I’ll see if there are some blackberries at the market too. Can’t wait to try your recipe!
I love making jam. This one has a pretty nice color.
I love blackberries though I don’t think I’d like picking them! Your jam is gorgeous! What a great color!