My skills in jam making are totally inherited from mum. Mum can literally bottle up any fruit you give her. Her fearless trials and perfection for the method of preservation actually taught me to go for the best.
It is ages since we bought a bottle of jam. Now, the store-bought ones tasteless of fruit and plenty of sugar to our taste buds. I don’t know why, but I absolutely can feel the pectin and the additives. Literally, to say, it is possible to wean yourself from a lot of chemicals and replace them with natural ingredients. Plus, I have to say it is a lot cheaper to make it for yourself.
Frozen berries at home.
Farmers market are the best place to pick up plenty of fruit during spring. Towards the end of the day, you also get the best deals when you buy in bulk. Once winter comes the berries become very expensive. This is when the effectively frozen berries come in handy. After all, berries need the least prep to freeze. Here is what I do.
Strawberries
Remove the stalk and the green bits. Add the strawberries to the bowl of water and rinse them well. Layout some kitchen towels and place the rinsed berries on the towel. Leave it alone for about 15 minutes and pat dry.
Add them to the zip lock bag, mark the date and freeze.
Related recipe: Strawberry preserves.
Blueberries and raspberries.
These are even simpler. Rinse and clean out any stalk or other bits. Shake out the berries for the lodged water and dry them on the towel. Pat dry and proceed just like the strawberries.
Mulberries and blackberries.
We love picking mulberries and staining our fingers. Usually, we freeze these berries separately as they tend to bleed faster sbd darker, thereby staining the other berries. They will also stain the kitchen towels. Wash these berries first. The one you want to remove thoroughly is the stalk as it can be a bit hard. Use a pairing knife to help you remove the stalk. Then proceed to the freezing process just like the strawberries.
Related recipe: Mulberry smoothie.
These frozen berries are fantastic not just for jams, but also for smoothies and milkshakes. Frozen berries make one if the best guilt-free snack during summer as well. At times, I add a few to my water to flavour it too.
Frozen berries are fine to make jams as they have a bit of bulk along with the juice. The berries soften as soon as the heat is reached and makes it so easy to mash-up as the jam. Hope you like this jam recipe with frozen berries. You can follow the steps to do a single type of berry as well, say raspberry. Do let us know which berries you like the best and what you do with them.
See you soon.
Mixed berry jam
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Fruit Knife
- Stock pot.
Ingredients
- 12 dates
- 1/4 cup drinking water
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1/4 tsp lemon rind
Instructions
- Pit the dates and soak in the water for 15 minutes.
- Grind the dates into a pulp.
- Into the stock pot add the frozen berries, the date pulp and lemon rind.
- Set this on a low heat and allow it to come up to a simmer.
- The berries will release a lot of liquid. Stir occasionally and allow it to cook down.
- When it becomes spreadable jam consistency remove from heat.
- Let this cool down a bit.
- Spoon into sterilized dry bottles and cool further.
- Once cool, save the bottles in the refrigerator.
Absolutely love this frozen berries jam as you’ve not used sugar at all. Love the idea of adding dates for that natural sweetness. Home made jams are definitely the best as one can control the ingredients to one’s liking.
What can a better thing than a homemade bottle of a jam. Though I am yet to master this art, you have made it look so easy and doable with your detailed recipe description.
Thank you for sharing Seema.
Indeed a wonderful idea to make jam with frozen berries. Also lobving that you have used dates instead of sugar to make it vene more healthy to consume. I will try this jam recipe whenver i will get frozen berries.
Love this frozen berries jam without sugar. I want to try adding dates to my jam too absolutely cool idea. I do agree with you homemade jams are the best.
Love this delicious homemade jam sweetened by dates instead of sugar. Such a lovely recipe using frozen berries.
This is such a delightful jam with frozen berries ! Love the way you have naturally sweetened it with dates. A guilt free treat for all ages.
Using dates for sweetness in the jam is a brilliant idea. What a easy recipe to make with frozen berries. I always have a large batch of frozen berries in freezer that I use for smoothies. I am making a small batch today to try your recipe.