Easy Blueberry Jam

I know I’ve mentioned how much I love summer produce–always have, always will.  As a kid, I looked forward to each and every summer dinner because it always involved fruit salad.  As an adult whose love of cooking and baking continues to grow, I loved finding ways to make summer produce last past the season.  One easy way to extend berry season is to make this jam.  It will keep, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator up to one month.  Martha Stewart’s original recipe calls for raspberries and orange, but I adapted it to use blueberries and lemon.  I’m sure just about any combination of berry and citrus would work.  This summer, I plan to try as many as I can think of 🙂

Easy Blueberry Jam

adapted from Martha Stewart Living, June 2012

Ingredients:

12 oz. fresh blueberries (or any berry or combination)

1 c. sugar (I used half vanilla sugar)

1 1/8 tsp. lemon juice

pinch coarse salt

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

Directions:

1.  Place a few small plates in the freezer.  (They will be used to test the jam later.)

2.  Stir berries, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and half the zest in a large, heavy pot.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and mashing lightly with a potato masher.  Skim foam from the surface, if any forms.  Cook, stirring more frequently as jam thickens, until it has the consistency of very loose jelly, 8-9 minutes.  Remove from heat.

3.  Remove a plate from the freezer and drop a small spoonful of jam on it.  Return to freezer 1-2 minutes.  Remove plate once more and nudge jam with finger.  The jam should hold its shape.  If it does not hold its shape and spreads, return to a boil, testing after each minute. 

4.  If using berries with large seeds, strain half the jam through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  (If you berries do not have noticeable seeds, skip this step.)  Return strained jam to the pot and return to a boil.  As soon as it boils, remove from heat and let cool completely before pouring into containers.