Berry Conserve

This no-pectin recipe is easily doubled which is advisable as jars will empty quickly. The raw cane sugar is my tweak to the recipe but white sugar is the original ingredient. The ingredient list was scribbled on a paper stuck in my Grandmother’s notebook. I have found similar recipes online so suspect this marriage of berry goodness has made the rounds for decades.

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: Makes about 5-6 pint jars.

Cook Time: 10 min BWB  

Ingredients

3 baskets strawberries (24 oz)
2 baskets blueberries (16 oz)
3 baskets red raspberries (16 oz)
3 baskets blackberries (16 oz)
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange (juice is YOUR treat)
2 – 4 cups of raw cane sugar

Directions

Rinse and trim strawberries — I prefer cutting strawberries into quarters or halves depending on size. Since I freeze unwashed bush berries from the market promptly in freezer bags, I whack large frozen raspberries and blackberries in the freezer bag into smaller chunks before rinsing lightly in a wire sieve. This blunt instrument technique works better than trying to mash soft berries although whole fruit may be your preferred alternative. Blueberries go in rinsed and whole.

Pour prepped berries into a deep pot, stirring in citrus zest, juice and sugar. The more sugar added the quicker the jam will thicken with the natural berry pectin. Bring to a boil over high heat and turn to low, simmering to desired glossy thickness.* Watch the hot fruit towards the end, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, ladle into pint jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. BWB for 10 minutes.

*I use the setup test on a chilled plate, although an early beginner attempt stayed syrupy which made a spectacular fruit topping for ice cream and waffles. Now we take a half jar and add fruit juice to loosen the set, then warm in the microwave for topping. YUM!

Categories: BWB Marmalades & Conserves, Preserving

Submitted by: ruthmarie on March 30, 2011