I wanted to make homemade jam this winter, so I purchased some frozen berries from the farmers market and came up with this recipe. It's a nice sweet/tart combination.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I had to do my blackberry jelly over again. I don't think it is going to take again. Can I redo it? If yes, do I do it the same way or some other way?
What do you mean when you say you don't think it's going to "take"? Is it too runny? Let us know what you mean...or maybe everybody else will know! :-)
Did you use pectin? If so it can take up to a week to set up. I don't know how to advise you, how long has it been maybe just wait a bit and see what happens.
If you are not using pectin (Certo or some other brand), please get some and use it. Having to make your jam or jelly over again several times is a nuisance. Pectin is a totally natural product made from apples. It makes wonderful jams and jellys, and if you follow the directions, you get a perfect product. PLEASE follow the directions and use the correct amount of sugar and fruit as well. If you are concerned about the high sugar content, there is a pectin product that you can get that uses artificial sweetner, which is good for people who have diabetes.
An added advantage of pectin is that you do not have to reduce anything. You get more jam out of the same amount of fruit.
If you are using pectin, you will likely find a website or toll free number on the directions or on the box that you can phone to troubleshoot the problem. However, I find among my friends, that the only people who have trouble are those who do not follow the directions.
I have not used blackberries, but the directions for raspberry jam are the same on the all the pectin boxes. I prefer Certo liquid, but I am sure that they all good products.
Several years ago, I made mulberry jelly that didn't jell. I didn't want to re-do, it so my husband and I just had delicious mulberry syrup for our pancakes. YUM!
I thank to every one for your help, even the "smart alec". I did figure it out and it jelly now. So thanks again, Tina
I was thinking of a topping for ice cream as opposed to redoing it. And with another, I had a misgel a few years ago. It wasn't too bad, so I let it sit on the shelf for a few months.
I recently read that to redo a jelly you can boil 1 to 1 and a half cups of water with a fresh box of Certo Light in a small saucepan at medium heat, boil hard for one minute stirring constantly and set it aside. In another pot, reheat your syrup (failed jelly) to a boil, add your missing fruit or sugar, add your set aside pectin mixture, boil for 30 seconds and pour back into prepared jars. There is a new pectin out by Bernardin called "No Sugar needed " Fruit Pectin that is very good for successful jelly and jam. I have some chokecherry/crab apple syrup because I used the wrong pectin for reduced sugar. I do, however, like to keep lots of syrup for on waffles, pancakes, French toast and ice cream.
Thank you, Susan. I did get a lot of useful feed back, and am glad I found your site. Thanks again. Happy fall to you.
Hello,
Apples contain quite a lot of pectin which is why you don't need to use commercial pectin.
When you say chopped rhubarb, is the rhubarb measurement in large chunks or diced?
Yum!! This sounds amazing. Its been years since I made jam, but when I did I diced the pieces of any ingredient into small pieces...so they were slightly chunky, but not big...so likes 1/4 to 1/8 inch pieces.
I would think most recipes specified smaller pieces to make up the measurements....just because large chunks don't spread well. Does yours not give you an idea of what they are looking for?
Happy jamming!!
I dont think the size of the chunks matter. The measurements are in cups.
I am looking for recipes for blackberry jam and pies or tarts.
By norman clune from Galway, Ireland
Mmmm....lucky you. For jam you need pectin and recipes are in the box for jam, jelly, and freezer jam. I came up with a blackberry pie recipe, and when I lived where berries grew abundantly, we went through many of these pies.
In a bowl, I mixed flour, sugar, and oatmeal in about equal amounts: a cup of each, plus 1/3-1/2 cup butter, as available, cut in as for pie crust, or worked into a crumble with fingers. Cinnamon and mace if you have it, or just cinnamon. Dash of clove powder if you have it {sparingly on the cloves, generous with the cinnamon]. Put aside. You can make more if you want after your first pie experience
Make a single pie crust, put in pan, flute edges. in a bowl mix 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn starch, making sure there are no lumps in the starch and it is thoroughly mixed with the sugar. Put berries into crust so it's just slightly mounded and sprinkle sugar and starch mixture over it evenly or pre toss in a bowl, very lightly so you don't squash berries. Take about
1 cup of crumble mix and sprinkle over pie. Look at it, add some more if you think it looks too bare. Will use about 1/2 to 2/3 of the mix. Save rest in jar in fridge for another pie.
Bake at 375-400 degrees until crust is brown, filling is bubbled and thickened. The flour in the topping helps thicken as well as the cornstarch. If you are making a regular pie with two crusts, add more sugar to filling and 1-2 more tablespoons cornstarch.
You can always add a squirt of lemon juice to the berries if you like it. Adds a bit of tartness if berries are past their prime. Not needed if perfect berries. You decide what's perfect for you.
This is sort of a berry tart. We just like crumble topping. Can use it on any fruit pie. Plum, cherry, apple, are good with it.
When one is a new cook, just try to imagine if it sounds like it would taste good. Choose your recipes on your skill level and your taste buds.
Sometimes, you want to be able to make jam without storebought pectin. This is a page about making blackberry jam without pectin.
