Best Berry Jam

I have been lucky enough to grow up in a home with an amazing kitchen and a mom who isn't all that keen on using it... This lead to making my own birthday cakes from age 12 (I didn't fancy the one I got for my 11th birthday) and generally being free to make a mess and experiment. I have made many batches of jam under Ouma's watchful eye - she still makes marmalade and rusks whenever we're running low!

Over December I visited a berry farm in Swellendam (gorgeous place!) and bought a bunch of frozen berries... I didn't even think of making jam until I got back to Cape Town a week later - usually frozen berries get eaten in minutes but somehow these ones managed to escape!

I didn't have a recipe but stuck to the basics. Here goes:
 
Mixed Berry Jam Recipe

500g blueberries

500g raspberries

1kg youngberries

6 granny smith apples, grated

15ml lemon juice

2kg sugar

The method is quite simple. Place all the ingredients in a very large heavy bottomed pot over low heat. At the same time, place a saucer in the freezer for testing the jam to see if it's done. Once the sugar is dissolved in the berry juice, bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Stir constantly - the jam will bubble up to about double the original volume and could boil over if you're not careful. Once the colour of the jam has changed and it's looking like runny jam (15-20min) test a little on your chilled saucer - I made notes on testing jam with my strawberry jam recipe.

Bottle in sterilized, hot jars. I close the jars whilst still hot to ensure that they seal properly and have stored jam for over a year without a hitch (mostly, however, the jam only lasts a few weeks before it is devoured by friends and my hungry family)

Strawberry Jam Recipe

It seems to be a kitchen weekend :-) Went to get braai supplies at P'nP just now and found strawberries at a price that made it reasonable enough to make some jam... and, like they say, let's make hay while the sun shines! It's one of the easiest things to make that create a real WOW factor - home-made jam on scones, fresh bread, etc just can't be beaten!

 Stawberry Jam:

1kg strawberries

1kg sugar

1 apple, grated

1/4 cup lemon juice

• Big saucepan
• Wooden spoon with a long handle (this is very important as the jam spits unbelieveably hot bubbles which stick to your skin when they come in contact... watch out for your face over the pot too!)
• Sterilised Jam jars

Clean and quarter the strawberries. Put all the ingredients in the pot over a low heat. Simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring to the boil stirring constantly. Cook the jam until it reaches wrinkle stage (put a saucer in the freezer when you start the process. When you think the jam is ready, put a little on the ice-cold saucer. if you can pull your finger through the mixture without the jam running back together, your jam is done. The surface of the jam wrinkles as you pull your finger through it.)

Bottle the jam in hot, sterilised jars. Clean the rims of the jar with a clean cloth before putting the lids on loosely whilst still very hot. Makes 6 X 230ml jars.