Jam Making Foray #3 - Gooseberry Strawberry Jam

I had never had gooseberries before.  

So it was when we went berry picking on the farm with some friends who - in addition to, and after, grabbing as many blueberries and raspberries as we could all carry - also wanted to see about picking some gooseberries.

I wasn't immediately sold on them, but after sampling a few in the fields, I was surprised at how crisp and juicy they were.

So I picked a couple handfuls.  Not much, I know, but enough to make a small batch of jam.

Well, when it came time to making jam I realized that I had barely enough berries for even one jar.  At this time, I had some strawberries going bad in the fridge, so I decided to add them, and go instead for Gooseberry Strawberry Jam.

It wasn't much, and in fact - because I was dealing with a small scale production, or perhaps because I had become an expert by now (this was my third jam making foray, after all!) - this batch of jam didn't take long at all.

Puréed the strawberries and the gooseberries.

I believe the single longest part of this foray was de-stemming the gooseberries!

Then I started the whole thing cooking.  No spices this time.  Just fruit.  :)

My jars (I figured two would be enough) were sterilizing, and my berries were cooking.

This batch was particularly bad for the foam.  Worse than the others.  But it got skimmed.
(That's right, I SHOWED that foam!)

When the jars and my equipment (trusty ladle and funnel) were ready (sterile), I added the calcium water and the pectin.  Again, the ratio is 1 teaspoon calcium water and 1 teaspoon pectin for every 2 cups of fruit.

One thing to note, I chose to use brown sugar today.  Just thought it would complement the berries nicely.

It did.

When the jam mixture was complete and fully mixed, I poured them into my jars.  I ended up having enough jam for two small mason jars, AND a little left over that I just put into a tupperware and put in the fridge to be used immediately.

The jars, however, got sealed and then thrown back in the boiler again for 10 minutes.

Seems like a lot of work to go to for only two (and a half) jars of jam, but it actually wasn't very difficult and not nearly as time-consuming as my previous two jam making forays.

All in all this probably took less than an hour, including clean-up.

And I got more JAM!

Muah hah hah ah hah.

Jam Making Foray #2 - Blueberry Jam with Cardamom and Anise Seed

It's Yum Time.

I made more jam.

It was yummy.

The process was exactly the same as my Jam Making Foray #1 - Pure Raspberry Jam except with blueberries, and some added flavours.

Cardamom seed goes really well with blueberry, in my opinion.

And it has such a unique flavour.

The shells (husks?) of about a dozen cardamom seeds.

Even though the fruit of the seeds are easily obtained, and are quite small by themselves, they still need to be ground a bit in the mortar and pestle.

I threw in a dash of anise seeds as well (not many as they are quite powerful), and then ground it all up.

Anyway, I got everything ready, including puréeing the jam mixture (which, just like foray #1, included lemon juice and zest), but refrained from adding the pectin until the very end.

So, this time, the jars and lids were ready before the jam was.

Which made it really easy and safe to just start ladling as soon as the jam was ready.

It WAS a little tedious to do 12 cups of this stuff though.  Yup.  That's how many blueberries we picked.

So, in case you've forgotten, that means 6 teaspoons of calcium water (which can last in the fridge for weeks, BTW, just be sure to give it a stir before using) and 6 teaspoons of pectin (which also boasts a very long shelf life just out at room temperature).

Some lemon (as mentioned earlier) for acid and flavour, some sugar for jelling (and a little for sweetness), and then a dash of cardamom and anise.

You can see I didn't add much spice, but when the ONLY other flavour in there is blueberry, you can taste it clear as day.

Anyway, after close to an hour of ladling and then boiling again (no more than 10 minutes, remember), I had so much jam.

 So much jam!

And then, with my raspberry jam from the day before, SO MUCH FREAKING JAM!!!

MUAH HAHA HAH HA AH HAH!!!

This was after having given some away already.

Anyway...

The cardamom and anise were brilliant, and the jam exquisite.

BTW - this jam ALSO used all the fruit, so the skin and seeds of the blueberries also.

And look at how well it set:

YUM TIME INDEED!