Blackberry Jam

 

 

My second batch of jam was blackberry.  I’m having a lot of fun with the jamming and canning process – it’s so different from baking!  I used this recipe this time, and it’s… good.  Not great, but good.  It’s sweeter than I like, but other than that the flavor is amazing.  I’m also not loving the texture – commercial pectin makes firmer jams than I prefer.  But that’s largely remedied by giving the jam a good stir upon opening.

The other problem with blackberry jam is that there are all the seeds to deal with.  I removed about half of them before I made the jam, but I lost patience with the process well before I was done.  If I had a food mill it might be a different story, but… I think it’s just as well that it will be another year till blackberries are in season again; I might have forgotten the hassle by then!

 

Blackberry Jam

Blackberry Crisp

Well, I have now found my go-to crisp recipe!  I loved this – it’s wonderfully customizable, so you can adjust for the sweetness of your fruit, and scalable and just plain good.  I mean, I made it twice in a week!  (Why yes, I did have some fruit to use up, why do you ask?)  The first time I used all blackberries, but the second time I added some frozen blueberries in as well, and added some Trader Joe’s roasted milled flax seed with blueberries into the topping – about a tablespoon, I think.  I’m going to try adding some graham flour next time, and maybe some vanilla powder, just for fun.  I’m sure whole wheat flour would work, too.  I may just make some of the topping and keep it in the freezer for impromptu desserts.  Yum!


(Summer Berry Crisp recipe, at Epicurious.)