Homemade Blackberry Jam

More blackberries!! Honestly, we picked so many I'm struggling to get rid of them all, so to make a significant dent in our stash I decided to make my first ever homemade jam! I definitely made a dent, I ended up making 5 jars of the stuff... At least we won't be running out of jam any time soon!

I got the recipe from 500 Recipes For Jams, Pickles, Chutneys by Marguerite Patten, but doubled the recipe as I wanted to use up as many blackberries as possible!

You will need:
- 4lb. blackberries
- sugar
- juice of 2 lemons

How to make your jam:
1. simmer the blackberries and lemon juice until all the blackberry juices have come out
2. sieve to remove the pips (this takes ages so for a quicker alternative squeeze it through a jelly bag, just make sure it doesn't split because trust me, you'll have smushed blackberries everywhere...)
3. measure out 1 lb. of sugar to each pint of pulp (prepare to be horrified at the amount of sugar that goes in, I used A WHOLE 1KG BAG)
4. reheat the blackberries then stir in the sugar until dissolved
5. boil rapidly without stirring until it's set

TIP: some jams are ready in 3-5 mins while others can take 10-15 mins so test early to make sure it doesn't overboil. To test put a little bit of jam on a plate and leave it to cool, then push with a spoon. If it forms a skin and wrinkles then it's done! Another way is to coat a wooden spoon in the jam and wait for it to cool, then hold it horizontally. If the jam hangs in a firm drop then it's set!

6. pour into some cute little jam jars and top with a waxed circle and transparent cover secured with string or an elastic bag (or just put on the jar lid, I decided to use both lid and transparent cover because it looks nice :) )

Et voila! Enjoy your jam! 

Have you got any more blackberry recipes? I'm desperate to use them all up!

Love, Beth xxx