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Hey! It’s a canning season here! Are you ready for a delicious raspberry-blueberry jam?
Both my hubby and I grew up in the families where summers were very busy canning and prepping for winter. And our families were in no way unique doing that. Whoever I knew back then, was making homemade food, homemade, jams, homemade sausages, and so much more!
The main reason was that the products’ choice in the stores was pretty limited, and the other big reason is that homemade is always, like always better than the store-bought. I can only name one product which many people who lived in the former Soviet Republics will say they liked the store-bought more, and that was a zucchini dip (ikra kabachkovaya = икра кабачковая). But that was it. The rest was all homemade: jams, pickles, pickled vegetables, vegetables in brine, etc., etc., etc… We will be sharing many of these on the blog, but today, I want to share with you a delicious homemade raspberry-blueberry jam recipe.
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Vegan Homesteading
Raspberry jam was a must-have jam on everybody’s canning list in the ex-USSR! It is still the one that many families make at home even though there are many varieties to choose from in the stores. Many families had done what would have been now called urban homesteading, as a necessity back then. If you could not grow your own veggies, you would be buying them in the “farmers’ markets”. Well, at least that’s what our families did in our home-country.
However, my husband and I hadn’t really done much canning. Until now. Since turning vegan almost 3 years ago, it’s been a challenge for me finding vegan products I like. It is amazing how you find out that a simple jam is not vegan as there is probably gelatin added to make it thicker. Same is true with so many other products. Did you know that most of the juices are not vegan? Yup, juice can be very vegan-unfriendly.
Crazy, right?
Anyway, inspired by a successful gardening season, we’ve decided to try and can as much as we can at home this year. We have been freezing zucchinis and pattypans, and pickling cucumbers. We had picked up some raspberries and blueberries in a few local farms. Also, we had had a trip to the BC Interior and purchased lots of fruit on our way back. We have been making jams and we just love how they turn out to be soooo good! Mmmm….
Well, a couple of weekends ago we visited a few local farms to pick-up some fresh raspberries and blueberries.
We froze some to use in oatmeals and shakes.
Originally, this was supposed to be a raspberry jam, but we still had some blueberries left. So, the original raspberry jam has successfully transformed into the raspberry-blueberry jam, as we decided to add some blueberries to it. Tell me please it is not just me, and you too change your mind like a million times a day. No? Well, may be it is just me 😉
Well… I hope the pictures made you want to get the recipe. So, here you go.
Homemade Raspberry-blueberry Jam
- Carefully place the raspberries into a colander and immerse it into a large bowl half-filled with water. Because raspberry is such a fragile berry, you don’t want to mash it washing under the water stream. Remove any leaves/insects emerge if they emerge.
- Do the same for blueberries.
- In the cooking pot, layer berries with sugar and leave them in the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight.
- Bring to a boil over the medium-high heat stirring often.
- Boil for 3-4 minutes and ladle into sterilized jars and seal.
- Place the jars upside down on a towel and leave it in this position till cooled down.
We have left some to eat right away and oh, boy, was it good!
We love it served on a toast made of the homemade bread or pancakes.
Do you make jams at home? What is your favourite?
Enjoy!
- 2 lbs fresh raspberry ~ 1 kg
- 1 lbs fresh or frozen blueberry ~ 0.5 kg
- 2 lbs organic coconut sugar ~ 1 kg
Layer berries with sugar and leave them in the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Bring to a boil over the medium-high heat, stirring often. Boil for 3-4 minutes.
Ladle into the sterilized jars and seal. Enjoy!
*Though the total time for preparation and cooking is showing as 25 minutes, there is still a "passive" period of 3 to 4 hours (or overnight) of berries layered with sugar being in the fridge to release juice.
Oh man, what a delicious looking jam… it’s making me hungry! I definitely agree everything is better when it’s homemade. I’ve never tried canning though!
Haha! Trust me, Suzie, it tastes great too! It may feel intimidating, but it is not as complicated as it sounds! 😉 Also, you don’t have to can it if you don’t want to, but you will want to store it in the fridge 🙂
Hahah to #1 insects emerge! I have yet to try making my own jam and i do love berries! This is a healthier alternative to white sugar. And love how you have replaced it. Will definitely try soon!
I know, right?! Nobody wants insects in their jam 😉
I hope you like it, Jena!
I love that you used coconut sugar in this recipe. I like to find alternatives to using white sugar. Beautiful pictures!
Thank you Miranda! We don’t use white sugar at home (trying to be eat healthier, you know ;)). Of course if anyone wants to substitute it for the regular one, they can do that.
This looks and sounds so yummy. I totally agree that everything is better- homemade.
Thank you, Victoria! Absolutely! The taste is so different and knowing what’s in my and my kids’ dish makes me feel so much better!