Black Raspberries
I am an avid trail-side nibbler on my walks down the trails in search of mushrooms.
My favorite snack is probably the black raspberry.
The beginning of July is a prime time for this wild fruit. Wild strawberries are just done and red raspberries and blackberries did not start yet. This year, conditions seem to be particularly favorable, and the black raspberry crop is extremely good.
The berries are quite small and it is not easy to pick any significant amount. Extremely prickly bushes don't help. One will certainly end up with a number of scratches and thorns on one's hands and arms. I did manage to pick an amount sufficient to try and make one batch of jam.
Berry jams are usually made quite sweet for a main simple reason - they need a lot of sugar to be able to set. The berries themselves are very poor in pectin. Insufficient pectin and sugar will result in runny jam. Recently I discovered a great product: Pomona's Universal Pectin. This product does not require sugar and activates with calcium (provided with every pack of pectin).
I used the original recipe given with Pomona's Universal Pectin.
The result was perfectly set and extremely tasty jam. If you have patience and do not like to have seeds in the jam, use a food mill or fine meshed strainer to eliminate seeds from mashed fruit. It is important to point out that added honey is optional and not necessary to obtain the end result.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="53" gal_title="Black_raspberry_jam"]
My favorite snack is probably the black raspberry.
The beginning of July is a prime time for this wild fruit. Wild strawberries are just done and red raspberries and blackberries did not start yet. This year, conditions seem to be particularly favorable, and the black raspberry crop is extremely good.
The berries are quite small and it is not easy to pick any significant amount. Extremely prickly bushes don't help. One will certainly end up with a number of scratches and thorns on one's hands and arms. I did manage to pick an amount sufficient to try and make one batch of jam.
Berry jams are usually made quite sweet for a main simple reason - they need a lot of sugar to be able to set. The berries themselves are very poor in pectin. Insufficient pectin and sugar will result in runny jam. Recently I discovered a great product: Pomona's Universal Pectin. This product does not require sugar and activates with calcium (provided with every pack of pectin).
I used the original recipe given with Pomona's Universal Pectin.
- picked nice and ripe berries
- washed and removed debris and bugs
- mashed fruit with potato masher
- added 2 teaspoons of calcium water per every 4 cups of mashed fruit
- brought to boil
- added same number of teaspoons of pectin to a cup of honey and mixed well
- added mixture to the pot and boiled about 2 minutes
- filled mason jars and processed in boiling water approximately 10 minutes
The result was perfectly set and extremely tasty jam. If you have patience and do not like to have seeds in the jam, use a food mill or fine meshed strainer to eliminate seeds from mashed fruit. It is important to point out that added honey is optional and not necessary to obtain the end result.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="53" gal_title="Black_raspberry_jam"]
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