Triple Berry Wedding Jam
You have probably noticed my posts dwindling in the last few weeks, but it’s getting close to the wire: That Jew and That Shiksa are finally getting hitched this weekend! Wedding planning has fully consumed our lives, and I doubt you wanted to see a super exciting post on take out pizza, beefarino or cereal. Even my photography has been put on back burner. I whipped out the shot above, but I am not happy with the lighting (I bought some new lights that I haven’t quite figured out how to balance properly). No Tastespotting or Foodgawker for this guy.
Nicole and I both love jam, so it was a natural decision for us to make it for the wedding favors. This sounded great on paper but after making 96 jars and labeling them, it would have been easier, cheaper and less stressful to buy candy apples, or curmudgeon that I am, a sock full of coal. 96 jars is a LOT of jam (10 batches of 10), the picture above is only about 2 dozen — who would have thought we needed over 20 pounds of sugar!
This recipe is very simple because we wanted something that everyone would like and would be reasonably easy to make. In the end we chose the recipe in the box of pectin and made it ‘ours’ by adjusting the blend of berries. Maybe we should call it a meritage? Next time, when we make jam purely for our enjoyment we will have to try adding cinnamon or vanilla.
Once you have tried homemade jam, you won’t ever buy it in the store again. Even the gourmet brands suck compared to home made. I can see a blueberry, peach and cinnamon jam in my future. Now I just need to see how to reduce the sugar, my teeth hurt just typing this.
Ingredients:
(Makes 9-10 8oz jars, they need to be made 1 batch at a time)
- 5 cups of berries. We used blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. A few raspberries may have snuck in too, but we didn’t want to call it Quad Berry Jam
- 7 cups of sugar. Really.
- 1 box of Sure Jell pectin
- 1/4 lemon
- 1 pat of butter (to reduce foaming)
Directions:
- Pulse berries in food processor, but leave nice large chunks. Alternatively you can mash ’em up however you like (stepping on them is probably not the preferred way, this ain’t making wine you know)
- Bring berries, lemon juice, butter and pectin to a boil, stirring frequently
- Add sugar, stir and bring back to a rolling boil for a minute. This will take a while, it’s a lot of sugar.
- Remove foam, add to jars, cool and eat.
Canning:
Before I list how I do it, the TJCC legal department reiterated that if you dear reader get botchulism, hoof and tail disease, male pattern baldness, erectile dysfunction, or anything else due to improper canning, we ain’t responsible. Just like pressure cooking, you should read up a bit on canning before doing it the first time.
- Bring a huge honking pot of water to a boil
- Add empty jars and rings to pot to sterilize
- Remove jars, and add jam leaving 1/4″ of air on top. Be careful when working with the jam it’s freaking hot! A jar funnel is key here.
- Dip the lids in the boiling water for a minute or two (any longer any you may melt the sticky stuff that helps hold the seal)
- Seal up the jars, but not too tight — you want any air to be able to sneak out.
- Add the jars back to the boiling water for 10 minutes
- After 10 minutes, remove and tighten the lids a bit more.
- Let cool to room temperature, you should hear the jars pinging as the vacuum button lowers
- You may be able to put them in a closet, but I am new at canning and scared to get botchulism or any cooties so I fridge ’em.
Here is a picture we took while sampling the jam. You may recognize the scone picture from earlier posts, we’ve been planning this for a while.
I have no clue how I made it to the end without using the line “Pump Up the Jam”. Damn.
16 Comments
Andy, first of all: MAZELTOV!!! How exciting for you! Congrats and all the best to both for many happy, blissful years!
Secondly, I was going to make some jam last night! I have some beaut dark grapes that are just beginning to wrinkle and they are so sweet, I hate to waste them. I am going to attempt but with just a few cups of fruit!
Good luck with everything!
Thanks La Diva! We’ve made smaller batches of jam whenever it looked like our strawberries were close to turning into moldballs (which lately seems like the same day I buy them). Hopefully after all this planning things will go smooth, and we can be knee deep in mojitos before we know it…
I totally agree with you. Homemade jam is the best. my mother made grape jam last night. I can’t wait to try it on Sunday morning.
Katerina, love grape jam. I once made it with a few peanuts tossed in for insta-p-b-and-j 🙂
Felicitations on your nuptials! And these jars of jam look lovely – I take it they are party favors for your guests? What a thoughtful and delicious gift. I’m sure your guests will appreciate all the work you went to – and hopefully your memory of the time will recede when you’re knee-deep in mojitos 🙂
Best!
eggy
Thanks Eggy! Yes, they are the favors — I hope they appreciate the work that went into them. I was going to do a video and put a link on the jar’s tag, but we ran out of energy to shoot it 🙂 BTW, love your new top chef blogging gig…too bad this season was pretty crappy.
Andy what a nice personalized idea for wedding favors. I’m sure your guests will appreciate them and this is the perfect time of year for jam! See you this weekend!
Thanks Lola! Looking forward to this weekend, and we have some jam for you guys too!
Andy I just tasted the jam — had it on my toast for breakfast. It was delicious! You and Nicole did a great job making it. What a good team you make already:) Your guests will be enjoying this long after your fabulous wedding!
Lola,
Glad you enjoyed the jam! We had a great time at the wedding and you guys were so much fun to work with…everyone that has seen the sneak peeks of the pics at the wedding or online are saying these are the best wedding photos ever (and we agree). Can’t wait to see the finished ones, and we’ll have to use one for our ‘about page’. You guys rock!
I have been remiss in not sending you a private note, Andy… school start up makes me crazy until December. But, I am so impressed I cannot believe it. I would have thought you needed 20 honkin’ KILOS of sugar – let alone pounds. Talk about a labour (are you reading friends of Andy and Nicole) LABOUR of love!!!!!
Who even cares what it tastes like after that. I am in love with the idea. BRAVO, you two. I think I told you Vanja and I got married in our dining room with a JP, my parents and my daughters, mom and dad’s dog (garter belt around neck) and Vanja’s parents on the phone from Europe. It was a beautiful fall day. October 17th, actually – his parent’s wedding day. We had our big shin-dig November 30th. I gave out cartons of caramel popcorn (also homemade and my grandma’s recipe). I cannot wait to hear more about the event…. and about EVERYTHING.
🙂
Valerie
Thanks Val! Your wedding sounds great — and I think after all the headaches Nicole would have taken me up on my original offer: villa in tuscany for a month, friends and family to come visit, and have a mini wedding each week 🙂
Is your caramel popcorn recipe up on your site, it sounds mahvelous!
So Andy I just wanted to tell you that Bob has eaten almost the entire jar of jam. I’ve only eaten two pieces of toast with the jam on it! Thankfully, we still have another one.
Lola, now that you and Bob have had the good stuff it will be hard to go back to store bought…you can blame us 🙂
Andy – what a fabulous wedding favor. I too love jam but have been afraid to make it. I will put this on my list to try.
Thanks, DD…next time I make a batch I’ll send you some….I am almost out!