People in the Pacific Northwest take wild blackberries for granted. In fact, they’re something of a nuisance, lining highways and filling empty lots (my dad once had to rent a backhoe in order to clear the brambles from the lower half of our yard). In August, it’s easy to freely pick gallons of blackberries (you may sacrifice a bit of skin in the process – wild blackberries have very sharp thorns) at local parks, nature reserves and backyards. Just make sure to watch where you’re picking, last summer my parents got scolded after accidentally wandering onto someone’s property while picking berries at the very furthest most point of a dead end road.
Out here in the Mid-Atlantic area of the country, blackberries are a little harder to come by. In fact, I’ve yet to find any wild fruit growing here in Philadelphia. However, I’m lucky to have a few good u-pick farms in the area. They’re not free, but they’re pretty cheap (two weekends ago, I paid $1.10 a pound) and when it comes to blackberries, the cultivated patches come with far fewer thorns than the wild ones.
Blackberry jam is one of my mom’s specialties, so this recipe is more hers than mine. She’s the one who taught me to mash the berries through a strainer to remove the seeds before turning them into jam (it’s a necessity with wild berries, as they tend to be seedier than cultivated berries. If you have more civilized berries, the deseeding process is optional). She’s also the one who showed me how wonderful a smear of blackberry jam can be on a slice of peanut butter toast mid-February.
And, because I like to share my bounty, I do have a half pint of this luscious jam to give away. It’s a deep, deep purple color, is almost entirely seedless and is particularly amazing on pancakes (I had friends over for brunch the day after I made the batch and we couldn’t believe how perfect it was in place of maple syrup). Leave a comment by Monday, August 31st at 11:59 p.m. eastern time to enter.
So, on to the recipe we go.
Seedless Blackberry Jam
makes approximate 3 pints
6 cups blackberry pulp (8-9 cups of berries, mashed through a strainer with the back of a wooden spoon)
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 packet liquid pectin (half the box)
Prepare your jars, start your lids to simmering and bring your canning pot to a boil.
In a large, non-reactive pot (stainless steel or enameled cast iron), combine the sugar and fruit pulp and bring to a simmer. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest/juice and stir to combine. Let the mixture reach a boil, stirring frequently to prevent it from boiling over. When the mixture appears to be thickening a bit, bring it back to a roiling boil and add the pectin. Let it boil vigorously for at least five minutes to activate the pectin.
Fill your jars with the hot jam, wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for ten minutes.
Remove from canner and allow the jars to completely cool on a dishtowel-lined counter top.
Once the jars are cool, check the seals, label them and eat jam on toast in January.
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Is the lemon juice necessary if I’m using raspberries?
The acid in lemon juice will help with the set of the jam and also helps balance the flavor. You should include it.
Great, thanks for the tip. These are not things taught in the Sure-Jel recipe booklets (LOL). I am learning a lot from you and I’m sorry for all the posts! Definitely spreading the word on your blog though!
Just finished making this jam ~ it totally rocks, in taste, texture, & color. I did change it a bit, but the essence of your recipe is still very much there. My 8 C of wild berries amounted to just 4 C liquid once I put them through my KitchenAid fruit/veg strainer attachment ~ wild berries seem to be smaller & seedier than domestic versions ~ so I poured in 4 C of blueberries also. I followed your recipe, otherwise, maybe cooking it down just a bit longer because I had so much fruit. This was the 1st time I’ve used pectin but I like the consistency of it… & the fact that it IS consistent, more uniform results than relying on what natural pectin lies in the fruit itself. I am now sitting next to 7 – 1/2 pints & 2 very full Bonne Maman jars full of what I’m calling “Black & Blue Jam” ~ after its ingredients & how I feel while I’m picking those blasted blackberries! Life is good ~ & so is this jam!!
Thanks for sharing your canning exploits, I’m glad I found your recipe for Dilly Beans (which is what brought me here in the 1st place just a few days ago) ~ I’ll be back often!! 
Here in Alabama, blackberries are plentiful. I have been a blackberry jam connisour for years. Wh have had severe droughts for the last 3-4 years. Year before last, whene blackberries were scarce, to finish up my last batch of jam, I used 1/2 blackberries and 1/2 blueberries. Let me tell you, that was the best batch of jelly I EVER made! I have been making it that way ever sense!
Hmmm…. I put it in jars and it looks like liquid! I wonder if it will firm up? I boiled vigorously for the 5 minutes and used a packed of liquid pectin…..
Maybe I should’ve cooked it more. I literally poured it into the jars. Oh well I guess — live and learn!
Celia, you have to use your best judgment to determine whether it’s ready to pour into jars. The time I give isn’t exact, because every batch is different.
Yeah, I have a hard time using my judgement even though I kicked myself for not doing so. I just kept thinking to follow your directions exactly… I’m wondering what your experience is in remaking the batch to thicken it? I’ve googled for info but curious what your thoughts are. By the way, my strawberry vanilla jam came out fab.
Having a late blackberry season here in the Seattle area this year. I will be making a batch of this tonight, and if I love it enough (which I know I will) it will inspire me to fight the thorns for enough berries for a second batch. I think your in the area Marisa so you may have the opportunity to fill up on the blackberries while your here
[...] Adapted from Food In Jars [...]
So i just tried this for the first time. I’ve never made jam before in my life. I only had enough berries to make half the recipe that you posted here, and i halved the pectin as well because that seemed like the natural thing to do. My jam didn’t set at all!
all my hard work is now liquefied in five little jam jars. Should i have just added the entire package of pectin even though i was only using half of everything else the recipe called for? I used half a large lemon instead of a small one, so could too much lemon juice have been an issue? Not enough lemon juice? I want to try this again, but now i’ve got five jars of blackberry syrup i can’t do anything with (unless i can somehow salvage it by adding another half-packet of pectin..)