Jammin’ on jam! It’s canning season in our house. We celebrated it by making the first of our jams this year (we were too busy at strawberry time): Maple Blueberry Jam. We are at the end of an amazing season of blueberry picking. If you didn’t get to go picking this year, make sure to do it next year! They freeze amazingly well. If you do have frozen blueberries on hand, you can make this recipe as well. in fact, this same recipe would work with in-season peaches, nectarines, or blackberries. We pick almost many fruits in season around where we live, tossing the extras in the freezer.
Me And The Kids Picking a Few Years Ago-They’ve Gotten So Much Bigger
If you’ve ever made jam before you have probably been disgusted at the sugar to fruit ratio. Typical ratios are 1:1. That is 1 cup of sugar for every 1 cup of smashed fruit you’re using! Wowsa! I couldn’t take this. I also didn’t want to use refined sugars in my jam. After a little research, I found this great company called Pomona’s Pectin. They are a small family-run business and have a Jam Hotline that they answer to help with any questions you may have!! They use a pectin derived naturally from apples and allows you to use little to no sugar. Ball low-sugar pectin still require a bit of sugar, and I feel the taste is always a little off. When you use other brand pectins, you are also warned about making larger batches. I feel that the only way to get your canning done is to do it in large batches! Pomona’s Pectin lets you do this too.
You may be saying-what the heck is pectin? Pectin is a naturally occurring substance that thickens sauces. Think of it like a vegetarian gelatin. Some fruits naturally have more of this than others, and don’t require the addition of pectin. Strawberries and apples to name a few, fall into the no pectin required category. Other fruits require pectin to help the jam set and thicken. Sugar helps with this process, as well as bulking up your recipe. When you make low sugar jams, you will use much more fruit and get less jars made. We’re ok with this, since we like fruit and not cupfuls of sugar on our sandwiches.
If you’ve never canned, you should try it! While it takes some time, there is nothing like your own jam, made with in-season fruits. It makes beautiful presents for friends, family, and teachers. You will be loved! How pretty are these? Place a homemade label, tie a bow on them, and call it a day!
The steps to make my Maple Blueberry Jam are the same steps you’d do to can any jam (and to can fruits like tomatoes, peaches, pears, etc). You need a little added acid to prevent spoilage and to keep bacteria at bay. You also need to make sure everything is prepped ahead of time and fully cleaned/boiled. Check out my You Tube video on How To Make Blueberry Jam, as I go through the steps in detail (I needed a camera assistant).
For equipment: Invest in the Ball Canning Kit. It comes with a pot, insert, and the tools needed to can like a lid opener, funnel, magnet tool, and jar lifter. Also-invest in the Ball Canning Guide To Canning Cook “Book”.
Made 7.5 1/2 pt jars
Ingredients:
- 10 cups of whole berries, 6 cups smashed
- 1/2 cup of lemon juice + 1 tbsp
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp calcium water from Pomona’s Pectin
- 3 tsp Pomona’s Pectin
Instructions:
- Fill your canner with water and bring to just under boiling.
- When canning, the biggest thing is to have all of your jars, rings, and lids ready to go. Make sure they’ve been washed with hot soapy water. As you’re making the jam, place jars and rings into canner with hot, almost boiling water.
- Mash berries in a pot, add lemon juice, cinnamon, and calcium water.
- Place pectin into maple syrup and pour into jam, bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes.
- Fill jars with hot jam. Wipe tops of jars, making sure tops are clean.
- Drop lids into hot, almost boiling water for 10 seconds, remove and place hot lids on top of jars. Place rings around jars and place into canner. Lower into boiling water. Place lid on canner and boil for 12 minutes. Remove from water and allow jars to completely cool. You should hear popping noises, as jam compressing in jars and causes pressure to change inside jars, forming a seal.
- Remove rings and check seals by trying to pull up on lids after jars have cooled. They should also appear indented on tops if sealed properly. Place ring around jar once seals have been checked, and wipe outer part of jar clean.
- If jar didn’t seal, place into fridge to be eaten withing 2-3 weeks or freezer for up to 6 months.
- Canned jam should last for 12-18 months.
Nutritional Benefits:
- Blueberries & Lemon Juice: high in vitamin C and fiber
- Low Sugar: made without refined sugars, and greatly reduced amount of sugar
- 10 cups of whole berries, 6 cups smashed
- ½ cup of lemon juice + 1 tbsp
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp calcium water from Pomona's Pectin
- 3 tsp Pomona's Pectin
- Fill your canner with water and bring to just under boiling.
- When canning, the biggest thing is to have all of your jars, rings, and lids ready to go. Make sure they've been washed with hot soapy water. As you're making the jam, place jars and rings into canner with hot, almost boiling water.
- Mash berries in a pot, add lemon juice, cinnamon, and calcium water.
- Place pectin into maple syrup and pour into jam, bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes.
- Fill jars with hot jam. Wipe tops of jars, making sure tops are clean.
- Drop lids into hot, almost boiling water for 10 seconds, remove and place hot lids on top of jars. Place rings around jars and place into canner. Lower into boiling water. Place lid on canner and boil for 12 minutes. Remove from water and allow jars to completely cool. You should hear popping noises, as jam compressing in jars and causes pressure to change inside jars, forming a seal.
- Remove bands to check seals by trying to pull up on lids after jars have cooled.
- Place ring around jar once seals have been checked, and wipe outer part of jar clean.They should also appear indented on tops if sealed properly.
- If jar didn't seal, place into fridge to be eaten withing 2-3 weeks or freezer for up to 6 months.
- Canned jam should last for 12-18 months.
Add a cup of brown sugar. Jam is too bitter without something to sweeten it more than just the maple story.
This will depend on the quality of your fruit. I make it this way every year with my local organic berries. You shouldn’t need extra sugar, but that’s a preference thing.
Hi! Are you still there? Just have a question about the amount of berries, 10 cups whole and 6 more cups smashed, or do you mean smash 6 of the 10?? Sounds great, trying to cut down on sugar too. Thank you, Mona
Hi Mona-it’s 6 cups of mashed fruit, which tends to be about 10 cups of whole berries to start. Hope this helps!
Thank you! I had the same question. It might save a little confusion to list them a bit differently:
6 cups mashed berries (about 10 cups whole)
I’m brand new to canning, and this will be my first attempt. I was looking, specifically, for recipes that don’t use refined sugars, and I’m very excited to try this!
Thanks again!
Keryn
So glad Keryn! Hope it turned out well! I love using Pomona’s Pectin (and no I don’t get any money from them). Let’s me use way less sugar, or none if I want
If I don’t mind it a bit on the runny side, is this recipe still safe to can if I leave out the pectin? Would I then need to add plain water? Thank you!
Probably ok. Won’t set the same way. You can add a little corn starch and then it will be more like a pie filling. Still delicious. See my blueberry tart recipe for info on this
I love this recipe. This will be my third year making this jam. I make several batches and I love to add a little fresh rosemary to one batch for something a little different.
Mmmm Rosemary. Sounds like an awesome addition! So glad you love it. Can’t wait to go picking and make it myself ❤️