Blackberry Picking and Homemade Jam Recipe

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by Jay

Like many familes, we are currently finding as many ways of saving money. Last weekend, we went for a beautiful 2 hour walk at a local beauty spot, Newmillerdam in Wakefield.

One of the walks is through the wooded area at the side and back of the lake and we had remembered to bring a plastic bag to collect blackberries from the hedges. We caught it just right this year and after 1/2 an hour of picking we had collected 3 lbs of fresh, plump blackberries.

Back home, I decided to make blackberry jam as this would be a way of preserving the fruit and still leave it to hand to eat, rather than freezing them.

The recipe I use for making jam is:

Ingredients
1.5kg/3lb blackberries
200ml/7 fl oz water
800g/28oz caster sugar

1. Wash and soak the blackberries, taking time to remove any stalks.

2. Place in a pan with water and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Add the sugar, stir until it has dissolved and boil for a further 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to any airtight jars (a couple of clip jars are perfect) to cool. Once cooled, cover and chill in the fridge where it will thicken and become more jam-like. It will keep for up to 2 months.

So there you have it - over 4lbs of fresh blackberry jam that cost me about £2 in sugar and cooking costs.