Made fresh from homegrown mulberries, this homemade mulberry jam is easy to make and so very delicious.
Homemade Mulberry Jam
This mulberry jam is easy to make with only 3 ingredients. Even though some jams can be hard to get to set, I have never had any problems with this recipe. Here are some tips for you.
Getting Jam to Set
For jams to thicken and set, they need a substance known as pectin. Some fruits naturally contain more pectin than others. When making jams and jellies with low-pectin fruits, often lemon juice is added.
If you are using low-pectin fruits in your jam, such as with this one, you should also add some lemon juice or perhaps mix in some high-pectin fruit to help your jam to set. Alternatively, using jam sugar with low-pectin fruit works well.
To make jam, you need to soften the fruit first. We like our jam relatively smooth, so while softening the fruit, I used a masher to mash it to a smooth puree, though this is just our personal taste.
The mixture will then need to boil and thicken and you will need to stir it frequently so that it doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. If you have a candy thermometer, it needs to read 105°C (220°F), though you will need to keep a close eye on the mixture when it starts getting around this temperature.
If you don’t have a thermometer, you can use the jam / cold plate test. Before starting your jam, simply place 3 or 4 small plates in the freezer. When you think the jam may be ready, place a small teaspoon amount of jam onto one of the cold plates from the freezer and let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then run your finger through the middle of the blob of jam. If the line starts to fill back over, it means the jam is too runny and is not ready yet, so keep cooking and repeat again in about five minutes. If the line remains, then the jam has reached setting point and is ready.
This jam needs to be placed into sterilised jars. This recipe makes about 1 x 450ml jar of mulberry jam, so you won’t need too many jars. It will need to be stored in the fridge and should last about 1-3 months this way. Though, if you follow the correct instructions for canning (the hot water bath method), you will be able to store it in the pantry for up to two years.
Why Didn’t my Jam Set?
There are many reasons as to why your jam didn’t set. It may have needed to be cooked longer or sometimes, the fruit you used didn’t have enough natural sugar and needed a little more pectin added.
If you followed these instructions and your jam didn’t set properly, place your jam in the fridge overnight. If it isn’t set in the morning, you could try re-cooking it a bit longer and maybe adding a bit of pectin or some more sugar and lemon, though have a taste test you don’t want to add too much that it may affect the flavour.
Sterilisation
There are a few ways to sterilise your jars, this is the one I use.
Wash the jars and lids in hot, soapy water. Rinse the jars in hot water and place upside down on racks in an oven heated to 120˚c. You can line the racks with baking paper first if you want. Heat the jars for 20 minutes. Do not place cold jam into hot jars or they may crack and break.
Other Bread and Spread Recipes
- Milk Bread Rolls
- Homemade Bread
- Pumpkin and Blueberry Bread
- Pizza Bread
- Strawberry Jam
- Rosella Jam
- Slowcooker Apple Butter
- Orange and Lemon Marmalade
- Lemon Curd
- Blueberry Jam
- Passionfruit Curd
- Apple Scrap Jelly
Homemade Mulberry Jam
Simple Living. Creative LearningIngredients
- 500 g freshly-picked mulberries
- 500 g white sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Sterilise the jars and keep them warm.
- Cut off all the stems of the mulberries with a pair of scissors or nail clippers.
- Rinse the mulberries to make sure they are clean.
- Place the lemon juice , mulberries and sugar into a large pot and heat on medium heat.
- As the berries start to warm up and sugar starts to melt, mash the berries to squish out the juice.
- Once all the sugar has dissolved, bring to a rolling boil.
- If you have a candy thermometer, it needs to read 105°C (220°F), though you will need to keep a close eye on the mixture when it starts getting around this temperature.
- If you don’t have a thermometer, you can use the jam / cold plate test. Before starting your jam, simply place 3 or 4 small plates in the freezer. When you think the jam may be ready, place a small teaspoon amount of jam onto one of the cold plates from the freezer and let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then run your finger through the middle of the blob of jam. If the line starts to fill back over, it means the jam is too runny and is not ready yet, so keep cooking and repeat again in about five minutes. If the line remains, then the jam has reached setting point and is ready.
- Fill your sterilised jars with the jam and seal them while they are still warm.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. The values may vary according to the ingredients and tools that are used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed information.
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