WILD BLACKBERRY & PLUM JAM

O yeah! We had a jam-making weekend again! This time we made wild blackberry and plum jam with a dash of lemon juice. I know how theatrical it sounds but I really think every jam we make tastes more delicious than the last and every time I’m so very enthusiastic about the results I can’t help giving half of my supplies to friends and family. So it’s no surprise my supplies run dry way earlier than my mother’s and that she is in a constant state of shock about my jam-consuming habits. But I haven’t give away this supply just yet because I made homemade labels and it looked so good I couldn’t help becoming a little greedy. This jam is mine, my owny, my… well let’s not go there.

In England there appears to be a superstition about eating blackberries after September the 15^th. Presumably they have been claimed by the devil by then and the devil has marked the leaves with his satanic sign.  This of course for us was reason enough to make this blackberry jam in the middle of October. We’re living life on the edge people! But then we learned the devilish blackberry effects vanish after you cook them. So no exciting events while eating this jam were registered so far. Too bad.

In the Netherlands you can find wild blackberries everywhere: in the bushes (‘First you must find a shrubbery!’), alongside roads, in the forest and even in the public parks. I love to pick my own wild blackberries and I have a little trick to check whether the blackberries are ripe and ready to pick: if the flair comes off with the fruit then the blackberries are ready to eat. Don’t pick them if the flair stays on the bush because they will be very sour. You can brew tea from the leaves of a blackberry bush and the berries you can use in jam, compotes, bavarois, crumbles, muffins, jelly, tarts, soufflés and smoothies. Blackbarries are divine in combination with white chocolate and taste delicious with game.

Wild Blackberry & Plum Jam

Fills 9 jars of 400ml

Ingredients:

1 K wild plums, stoned and quartered (weight is after stoning)

800 gr wild blackberries

1800 gr jelly sugar

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1. Put all the ingredients in one very large stockpot and bring to a boil on high fire. Don’t stir too often. When the fruit’s boiling turn the fire down to medium.

2. Perform the jelly-check after 5-10 minutes: drip a drop of jam on a cool dish and place in the fridge to cool. Then hold the dish upright and check if the drop holds its shape. If it does the jam is ready. If it oozes the jam needs to be cooked a couple of more minutes.

3. Sterilize the jars and lids you want to use. Pour the jam into the jars and close immediately.

For more jam-making tips and tricks you can check out my post about Rhubarb &Strawbery Jam. There you can also read about chia jam alternatives!

Serve the Wild Blackberry & Plum Jam on toast, as part of a cheese board, with game, on top of your overnight oats or with ice cream. Yum!