Blackberry jam

And so my jam making adventure continues. For the first time in my life I made blackberry jam and I have to say it came out absolutely divine. If I'd have to pick my absolute favourite jam it would be raspberry jam made by my great aunt. Sweet, quite runny and oh so good with absolutely everything - from porridge to pancakes. And as I could not get my hands on any raspberries over here I went for the next best alternative - blackberries. I don't think I'd ever seen a blackberry until I move to the UK. And until a couple of weekends ago I had never picked a single one! After spending a couple of hours on a common I was equipped with a good few kilos of blackberries. And when I got home I set out on a mission to turn my blackberries into all things sweet. I set few aside in a freezer bag, waiting to be made into a delicious crumble once the weather gets really cold and nights get really dark and I'm in desperate need of something comforting. And as for the rest it, I made it into a jam.

One big difference between jams over here and back in Estonia is that Estonian jams are runny, whereas the ones over here are thick enough for spreading on toast without having to worry about it dripping. A couple of phone calls later (as usual, when you need to ask something no-one really picks up their phone!) I had the recipe. Or I should say general directions. Because everyone does their jams a bit differently - and I guess that's one of the beauties of making your own jam. You can play around with the sugar and water to make it as sweet and runny as you want. There are no hard rules and limits - whatever you yourself fancy! And after an hour or so later I had a lovely collection of jars to add to my already quite varied jam collection. If I carry on this way I  will be stocked not for just one winter, but many winters to come! I've already polished off a jar by adding a generous spoonful or two to my morning porridge...



Ingredients:
- 2.2kg blackberries, rinsed
- 1.5kg sugar
- 225ml water


Directions:
Place the blackberries, sugar and water into a large saucepan and mix. Bring to boil and skim off the foam. When the berries have broken down and there is no more foam divide up between sterilised jars.

I have to say that this jam is quite on the sweet side so if you prefers yours slightly less sweet reduce the amount of sugar a bit.