Confiture de Mûres

Lately everywhere I look I see blackberries.  No, I am not talking about a handy mobile device, but the plump, juicy berries.  There are lots of blackberries in the Golden Gate Park and in the Presidio, ripe for my new favorite activity, fruit rescue or ‘foraging’.  Last week I went on a rather painful, but very fruitful, blackberry collection mission.  I came back with five yogurt containers full of berries, ready to be made in delicious jam.  Picking the blackberries ended up being a rather social event.  There were Halloween haunted house solicitations, as well as Mounties who offered their horses as ladders to aid my roommate and me in picking.

With all this bounty, I decided to make jam.  My jam making experience is limited to visits to my Grandmother in Normandy, where I would help make jam with summer fruits such as peaches and raspberries’.  My absolute favorite jam that I would covet and save for special occasions was her Confiture de mures (blackberries).  I quickly set out to use her simple, but highly delicious recipe that is pectin-free.  Take advantage of the excesses of fall and can or preserve your favorite fruit into jam! 

Confiture de Mûres

6 cups of ripe blackberries

4-5 cups of sugar

1 lemon

4-5 jars for jam (Bell jars etc.)

Rinse blackberries and put them in a large pot with sugar. 

Heat to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.  Put a small saucer or plate into the freezer

Meanwhile put the lids of the jam jars in a saucepan of boiling water.  Also clean the jars very well with warm soapy water and sterilize by either putting them in a steam bath or by pouring boiling water into them and letting them sit for 5-10 minutes.

After letting the jam boil for 15-20 minutes, place a couple of drops of jam on the frozen plate.  Hold the plate at an angle and watch the jam as it drips down.  The jam has reached a jelling consistency when the liquid has dripped about halfway down the plates and has slowed down dramatically or stopped.   A fun guessing game that I have yet to get wrong (it really doesn’t matter much as blackberry in any form is great, also my jam normally takes a day or two to firm up).

Pour into jars and leave about a ¼ inch of airspace (a funnel is really useful) and screw the lids on (carefully as not to touch or contaminate the lids in anyway).  Immediately cap the jar after transferring the jar and invert. Depending on your dedication to the jam and your desire to preserve it, you can boil the jam/submerge in boiling water for 10 minutes to form the seal (on bell jars).  However, my grandma just lets her jars cool upside down and has never once had a problem.  The merits of each are discussed here.