Blackberry Jam

A few weeks ago, my husband, daughter and I, went blackberry picking.  It was so much fun, and we for pretty cheap we brought home quite a lot of blackberries.

I threw 2 pounds in the freezer for later, and then used some of the rest for homemade Blackberry Jam and a Blackberry Cobbler which was to die for as well.

It was pretty easy to make, it doesn't need pectin which I don't always have on hand, so this is a great recipe if you need to use up fruit for a quick delicious jam.

Blackberry Jam

4 cups of blackberries
2 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice


Mix all ingredients in a saucepan.  Crush the berries using the back of a spoon or a potato masher.

Turn the heat on to medium and bring the contents to a boil, simmer for about 15 or 20 minutes until it is thick and has reached the jam point.  The way my great grandmother taught me was by taking a teaspoon of the jam and putting it on a small plate.  Then running the spoon through the jam, if it separates and doesn't run back together, it is ready.

In Portuguese we call it Ponto de Estrada.

Transfer the jam to clean and sterilized mason jars.  If you're not canning, just let it cool and then place in the refrigerator.  If you're not using right away, then you can proceed with canning the usual way.

Tomato and Apple Jam!

If you've never tried Tomato Jam you are probably sitting there with a wrinkled nose and wondering if I've lost my ever loving mind.

I assure you, I haven't. I also assure you that it's delicious and this is coming from someone who does NOT like tomatoes.

I remember when I was a little girl, my great grandmother Ema, would make a big batch of tomato jam and I would immediately grab a slice of bread, cover it in butter and slather that jam on there, yum yum yum.

Now the tomato jam is amazing all on it's own, but when you add apples to it, it becomes very much like an Apple butter and I know that you guys like Apple Butter right?

So give this a try and let me know what you think, don't let the tomato thing scare you off, I promise you, you can't even taste it.

Tomato and Apple Jam

800 gr of tomato (weigh after it's been peeled and chopped)....it's about 5 medium tomatoes
400 gr of apple (weigh after peeling and chopping into cubes)......about 4 and a half apples
900 gr of sugar (2 lbs), I used about 4 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cinnamon stick (if you don't have it, don't worry just add in some ground cinnamon to taste)


I start by peeling my tomato and the way I do it, is to cut an x on the bottom of each, then pop them into a big pot of water, bring to the boil, then drain the tomatoes. Remove the skin and cut off the stem.



Cut the tomatoes into small chunks and pop into a big pan. Add the apples, cinnamon and sugar.

Cook on low stirring occasionally. Let it simmer until the tomato and apple is soft, at this point I use my hand blender and puree the apple and tomato.

Keep cooking and stirring until it reaches the consistency of jam. The way I check, is to take a tablespoon or so of the jam, put it on a plate and then run my finger or a knife through it, if it opens up in the middle and doesn't immediately close back up, it's ready.

In Portuguese we call this "Ponto de Estrada", which means, it looks like a road through the jam when you pass your finger or knife.

Immediately pour into pint jars which have been sterilized.

This recipe makes about 3 and a half pints so I was able to fill 3 jars and still had about half a jar left.

Enjoy!

Note: If you prefer, you can remove the seeds from the tomato when you remove the skin and the stem. My great grandma never removed them and I don't either, but I know of a lot of people who do.