Blueberry Lemon Jam
This recipe started the way all jam recipes should: I came into a bounty of stunningly delicious, in-season fruit. It wasn’t from a blueberry patch like those in southern Maine my homesteading sister, Rebekah, picks from, but it was the closest thing I have to such: the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market. One of my favorite vendors there, Tree and Leaf, had blueberries one summer that were better than any I’ve tasted outside Maine. I paid a pretty penny for them, went home, and broke open Mes Confitures, the tome by famous French jam maker Christine Ferber. I found her take on a wild blueberry–lemon jam, and I took shameless liberties with it, as anybody working with much different fruit should. I used much less sugar (her wild ones must be very tart), and streamlined the process. The result is a celebration of the blueberry, brightened with slices of candied lemon, peel and all. Use it anytime you want good jam: on toast, stirred into yogurt, and even as the basis of such desserts as Blueberry-Lemon Tart with Toasted Coconut (page 165).
If you don’t want to fully seal and can the jam, you can pack it into clean jars, tighten the lids, let cool to room temperature, and refrigerate for several months. Or pack into freezer-safe plastic bags, squeeze out the extra air, seal, and freeze for up to one year.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 half-pint jars
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Have ready four 8-ounce canning jars with 2-piece lids. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat so that the water is barely bubbling. Immerse the pint jars in the canning kettle. Place the rings and lids in a separate small saucepan and cover them with hot water. Leave the jars and lids immersed while you cook the jam. If you don’t have a candy thermometer to tell you when the jam is done, place a small plate in the freezer.
Step 2
Combine the lemon slices, water, and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil and cook undisturbed until the lemon slices are translucent, about 20 minutes. Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and the blueberries; cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and reaches 220°F on a candy thermometer, 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 3
If you don’t have a candy thermometer, remove the plate from the freezer and immediately spoon a teaspoon of jam onto it. Let it sit for a few minutes until the jam cools, then tilt the plate and see how much it runs. It will probably not wrinkle and get firm the way jams with more pectin would, but it should be thick and only slightly run. If it’s too runny, continue cooking it down, stirring frequently, until it thickens further.
Step 4
While the jam is still hot, ladle it into the hot, sterilized canning jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of head space at the top. Remove any air bubbles by running a long, nonmetallic utensil, such as a chopstick or wooden skewer, between the jar and the jam. Top with the prepared lids, close tightly, and process for 5 minutes in a hot-water bath with the jars submerged by at least 1 to 2 inches of water. Remove from the water and let cool, undisturbed, to room temperature.
Step 5
Besides making that telltale ping when it seals, the lid of a properly sealed jar should be slightly concave and not move; if the lid springs down and back when you press your finger in the center, the lid is unsealed. If it doesn’t seal, process it again or store it in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature. Store sealed jars in a cool, dry place.
