Blueberries are a great source of vitamins K, C and B6, manganese, pectin and dietary fiber. They contain anthocyanin and phenolic substances that protect you from various heart diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and help you in quicker adjustment of vision in dark surroundings, lowering cholesterol etc. They have a very distinct sweet and sour flavor and are used for making many dishes. Blueberry jam is a very good form of using the fruit as it enhances the taste when added on top of pancakes, toasts and even on ice cream. It is quite simple to make blueberry jam at home and you would get a preservative-free jam that will be full of the goodness of healthy blueberries. Blueberries are ‘super fruits’ that are made in so many different ways. Here is a very simple way to make blueberry jam.
Complexity Level: Moderate
Time Required: 40-50 minutes
Resources Required:
- Four cups of crushed ripe blueberries
- 1 pkg. of fruit pectin
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 2 cups of sugar
- small jars with lids
Instructions:
1. Measuring the ingredients
Firstly, measure two cups of sugar in a bowl and keep it aside. Measure four cups of blueberries and put them in a separate bowl and crush them gently. Then, transfer the crushed berries in a saucepan.
2. Heating the ingredients
Put the saucepan with the crushed blueberries on a medium flame and keep stirring it until it becomes a soft mixture. After heating the blueberry mixture, add the fruit pectin to it and keep stirring it. Keep the mixture on high flame until it comes to a complete boil and starts to thicken. Let the mixture boil for one minute but do keep stirring constantly.
3. Sweetening the mixture
After the mixture becomes thick, you can then add the sugar. However, again boil the mixture for another minute to dissolve the sugar completely.
4. Storing the jam
Now, you can turn off the flame and skim the foam from the surface of the jam mixture. You can now fill your jars with jam and let the jam cool and then refrigerate them.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the method for preparing sugarless blueberry jam?
For making sugar less blueberry jam, you will kneed 1/3 c. of grape juice (unsweetened), 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 pack of Knox gelatin and 12 oz. box of frozen blueberries (unsweetened). Firstly, take out the gelatin and mix it with two tablespoons of the grape juice in order to make it soft. Then, add the remaining ingredients in an open saucepan and keep it on medium flame and keep stirring and cooking for around five minutes or until the time when the blueberries become crushed and thick in consistency. Then, add the gelatin mix after lowering the heat and keep stirring until it completely dissolves in the blueberry mix. Cool the jam and then you can store it either in a fridge or freezer in a covered container.
Quick Tips:
You can make a spicy blueberry jam by adding a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, allspice and cloves to the fruit while you are adding lemon juice. This will lend the jam a very strong spicy and fruity flavor.
Things to watch out for:
- Make sure that you crush the blueberries first before putting them in the saucepan as it will help in achieving the desired consistency earlier and would save on cooking time.
- After adding the fruit pectin, make sure that you constantly keep stirring for one whole minute else the blueberry might get burnt.
