The smell of raspberries for me brings back childhood memories of my grandmother’s large patch and my mother’s jam. Although I know I make my jam differently, this recipe is tasty and can easily be adapted to make a smaller or larger batch. Just follow a 1:1 Cup ratio of mashed berries to sugar.
Ingredients
6 Cups mashed berries
6 Cups white sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp butter
Directions
Use fresh picked raspberries and clean well. This means gently sort through the berries, picking out leaves or other debris. I DO NOT wash the berries. That’s right, never. Raspberries absorb a great deal of water and can quickly become mushy. Ensure where you buy or pick your raspberries, they are not using pesticides or herbicides.
Once the berries are clean add a layer of berries to a large bowl and mash with a potato masher. Continue in layers until you have enough mashed berries for 6 cups.
Measure out 6 full cups of mashed berries plus the lemon juice into a large heavy sauce pan. Bring the berries to a boil over medium heat in a large heavy sauce pan.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar all at once. Return to heat. Bring to a full boil for five minutes. Be sure to stir constantly so the sugar doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan.
After the five minutes, remove from the heat, add the butter and stir. The butter eliminates the foam often created while making jams and jellies. *Should you omit the butter you will need to skim off all the foam.
Carefully fill five 500ml sterilized jars to 1/2 inch to the neck. Wipe the rims of the jar and place new sterile lids on the jars, then add the screw too.
Place jars in a boiling canner. The tops of the jars should be covered with an inch of water. Process in boiling canner for 15 minutes. Allow jars to cool on a draft free surface. Once cool check the seals, label, date and store in a cool dark location. Any jars that do not seal should be placed into the refrigerator.
NOTE: Most jam or jelly recipes ask for pectin crystals. Provided the fruit is ripe and not over ripe, pectin should not be needed. Most fruits have natural pectin.
2 Responses to “Raspberry Jam”
Good recipe thanks. I wonder how it would taste with minimal sugar added.
We have not tried less sugar. The sugar helps it set and is needed as a preserving ingredient. If you use less we recommend storing the jam in the fridge.