When we moved into this house, I wanted to make our back yard not only beautiful but also one that provides delicious food for us. With the addition of fruit trees and bushes, we get handfuls of fruit and goodies at random times. If we aren’t going to eat them right away, I pop them in the freezer for later.
Not everything produces at the same time or we just keep ending up with small batches – and that is why make a jam out of multiple berries at once. It gives fun flavor combinations, and it allows us to tackle the small harvests we get as we go.
This recipe is a bit different than the pectin free version we made in the past, but gives us another delicious jam to enjoy with our breakfasts each day!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cherries (pitted)
- 2 cups blueberries
- 2 cups raspberries
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 box pectin
Directions:
- Measure out your sugar and put in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Rinse your prepared berries and put them in a pie dish and smash them with a potato masher. Leaving some chunks is fine, but we don’t want it too chunky. Put all of your squashed berries into a medium sized stainless steel saucepan.
- Cook your berries over medium heat together with your pectin included.
- Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Once it reaches this stage – dump all the sugar in. Yes ALL at once. Mix constantly until it is incorporated into the mixture. Return it to a rolling boil that doesn’t stop while you stir. Once it reaches that point, remove from heat and skim any of the foam off the top.
Canning Instructions:
- Place 8 clean 8 oz mason jars on a rack in your stock pot. (I used 4 16 oz jars – always prepare 1 extra jar and lid set than the recipe requires, trust me you will appreciate that if you mess one up!) Fill the jars and stock pot with cool water until it completely covers the top of the jars. Cover and put on medium heat. Simmer but do not boil.
- Prepare 8 lid sets, put the bands aside and put the flat lids in a small sauce pan and put on medium heat. Do not boil, but keep warm through the whole process.
- Remove the jars from the warm bath. Tip them as you pull them out and pour the water back into the pan. Place them on a towel on the counter with the opening up. Do not dry them! Just put them down and put the funnel in. Ladle the hot jam into each jar until there is about 1/4 inch of space in the top. Once all jars are full, take a plastic or wooden utensil and move it around to get extra air bubbles out.
- Take the small magnet tool and remove flat lids from their hot bath. Place over top of each jar. By hand screw on the collars, but not too tight! Remember some air still needs to get out of each jar.
- Place the jars back into the hot stock pot and replace the lid. Turn your temperature up to high. When it starts to do a rolling boil, start a timer for 10 minutes.
- After the jars have processed for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the lid to the pan. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove all the jars without tipping them and place them back on the towel. Remember – don’t towel them off!