Blueberry jam

Techniques | British

Prep time: 3 min Cook time: 2 min Servings: 40

When your grandma has too many blueberries growing in her backyard or you find them for a good price at the markets, it's time to make some jam. I love having a bottle of homemade jam in the fridge because it's so much better than supermarket jam. Use blueberries, strawberries, cherries, whatever berry you would like. I've used fennel to give it a savoury hit but you can use star anise or cinnamon as well.

This is a low-sugar blueberry jam flavoured with fennel pollen and apple cider vinegar. The sugar is around 20 percent of the fruit weight, well below the 70 to 80 percent most jams use, so it won’t set firm like a traditional preserve. It thickens by reducing slowly on the stove rather than relying on a sugar-pectin gel, which means the berries still taste like berries when you spread it. The vinegar adds acidity and helps the fruit hold its colour through the long cook.

Mix the berries with the sugar and leave them out at room temperature for a few hours before you start cooking. The sugar pulls the juice out of the fruit while it sits, so by the time you turn the heat on, there’s already syrup in the bowl. From there it’s a low simmer until it thickens to the consistency you want. I eat it with sharp cheese on a cheeseboard, alongside roast pork or duck, or on toast with butter.

Ingredient Notes

Blueberries: Fresh or frozen both work. If you’re using frozen, don’t thaw them first, just toss them through the sugar straight from the freezer. Wild or smaller berries tend to have more flavour and a touch more natural acidity than the larger cultivated ones, but use whatever you can get.

Sugar: I keep the sugar low because I want the blueberry flavour up front, not a sugar hit. Standard white sugar is fine. The trade-off is that this isn’t a long-life shelf preserve like a high-sugar jam, so it lives in the fridge rather than the pantry.

Fennel pollen: Fennel pollen has a soft aniseed and floral flavour that works really well with blueberries. If you can’t find it, swap in a couple of whole star anise or a cinnamon stick added at the one-hour mark of the cook, then fish them out at the end. A split vanilla bean works too.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Large mixing bowl
Tea towel
Large heavy-based pot
Wooden spoon
Sterilised jam jars with lids
Tongs

Ingredients

1kg (2.2 lbs) blueberries (I used 2kg [4.4 lbs])
200g (7 oz) sugar
60ml (2 fl oz) apple cider vinegar
1 tsp fennel pollen (star anise also works great)

Directions

Wash the berries well and then drain. Place the berries into a bowl with the sugar and mix well. Cover with a tea towel and leave at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
Next, place the berries and any liquid that has come off into a large pot. Over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer and add the vinegar. Then, turn the temperature down to medium-low and cook until it thickens. This will take about 2 hours. Once you’re at this stage, you can add the fennel pollen (if using star anise or cinnamon, place them in at around the one-hour mark).
Sterilise your jam jars by boiling them in water for 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the hot jam into the jars and place a lid on. Let them cool to room temperature before you place them in the fridge.
The jam will last in your fridge for up to 6 months unopened and 1 month once opened.

Blueberry jam

Ingredient Notes

Equipment

Ingredients

Directions

Recipe notes

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