Blackberry Bay Leaf Jam Recipes

Steps:

• Mash blackberries in a saucepan with a potato masher. Stir in sugar until juices form; place about 1 tablespoon blackberry juice in a small bowl and stir in cornstarch. Pour cornstarch mixture into saucepan.
• Bring berries to a boil, stirring often, until jam is thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in cinnamon and allspice. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer jam to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until chilled. Stir in lemon juice.

Steps:

• Place a few small plates in the freezer. Stir together berries, sugar, lemon zest and juice, salt, and bay leaves in a large, heavy stockpot. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and mashing lightly with a potato masher. Skim foam from surface. Cook, stirring more frequently as jam thickens, until it is the consistency of very loose jelly, 10 to 11 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
• Press about half of the jam through a medium sieve; discard seeds. Return strained jam to pot, and stir until combined. Return to a boil.
• Remove a plate from freezer, and drop a spoonful of jam on it. Return to freezer for 1 to 2 minutes, then gently nudge edge of jam with a finger. If jam is ready, it should hold its shape. If jam is too thin and spreads out, return to a boil, testing every minute, until done. Remove bay leaves, and discard. Spoon hot jam into hot sterilized jars, and cover immediately with sterilized lids.

Steps:

• In a non-reactive pan, mash the blackberries with a potato masher. Add the sugar and heat the contents over medium heat, stirring gently, until the sugar is dissolved. Raise the heat to medium-high and boil the mixture until a drop mounds in a chilled dish (this took around 10 minutes for me).
• Pour the jam into a jar and cap the jar tightly. Store in refrigerator. This jam should keep for several weeks.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Put a plate in the freezer. With a potato masher or spoon, crush 1 cup berries in a medium heavy-bottom nonreactive saucepan.
• Add remaining 3 cups berries and 1/2 cup water; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to break up berries, until berries are soft, about 6 minutes.
• Meanwhile, spread sugar out on a rimmed baking sheet. Heat in oven until warm, about 5 minutes.
• Slowly stir sugar into saucepan; return mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook at a slow boil until thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour. To test for doneness, drop a small amount of jam onto the chilled plate; it should wrinkle when pressed with your finger.