Spiced Blueberry Jam
Remembering little Gabe and his reaction to my Spiced Blueberry Jam as I update my old recipe box.
I bought a new recipe box today. It’s a lovely wooden box I found on Marketplace that was never intended to hold recipe cards. My current recipe box wasn’t intended for that use either - it’s a 24+ year-old plastic diaper wipes box!
Long before we used home computers to store and sort files, I colour-coded my recipe cards. White for dinners, purple for cookies, blue for canning, yellow for soups, green for holiday recipes. I keep my recipe box in my spice cabinet, even today, and sometimes it’s just easier to pull out a well used old index card than it is to go to the computer and search for a recipe.
Not every card in my recipe box has a source noted, but a lot do: “Silvana’s curried rice salad”; “Janie’s chocolate cookies”; “Janice’s reindeer cookies”; “Spiced Blueberry Jam - Magazine”. That last one caught my attention today as I was moving my recipe cards to the new box. Which magazine, I wondered, because I think I’ve been making that jam forever!
The warm spices of cinnamon and cloves make this sweet jam unique. It’s so good spread over a thick slice of bread!
Once, when my 28-year-old son was just 8 or 9, he had a friend sleep over, and in the morning I put my blueberry jam on the table with breakfast. The friend (familiar enough with our family to be comfortable) asked, “don’t you have any just normal jam that’s not spicey”? I have honestly never considered cinnamon to be “spicey”, but he accepted raspberry jam as a satisfactory replacement, obviously not trusting the Christmas Jam to be “normal”.
Spiced Blueberry Jam is still one of my favourites, spread on a thick slice of bread or toast that is first smeared with cream cheese. I have shared both the recipe and the finished product so many times over the years. It is a relatively small batch recipe. I make it multiple times a year from fresh or frozen berries, and I have been known to get up at 5AM to make a batch before work.
I put the recipe card away in my new box today with a note at the bottom: Not Gabe’s favourite. I may not remember the magazine I found it in, but I know I won’t forget the little boy who thought cinnamon in jam was just weird.
My “new” recipe box, a significant upgrade to my old diaper wipes box!
Spiced Blueberry Jam
INGREDIENTS
1 pound fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed (about 4 cups). Fresh berries are often bigger and easier to mash, but honestly, both turn out the same in the end.
3 ½ cups sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 3oz liquid fruit pectin
SUPPLIES
4 250ml canning jars and lids
Water bath canner
Large stock pot
Potato masher
Canning funnel
METHOD
In the stock pot, gently warm and then crush the blueberries with the masher. Some don’t mash, it’s ok.
Add the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves. Over low heat, stir to dissolve the sugar.
Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in pectin. Skim off any foam.
Ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4” headspace. Place snap lids and tighten bands to finger tight.
Process for 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Remove to the counter and leave undisturbed 24 hours before cleaning jars and storing away.
A wonderful small batch jam that I promise is not weird!
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Sue:
Sue tends a kitchen garden in Alberta, growing as much of the family's food as the season allows. She writes about what comes out of the soil and what ends up on the table — honest, unfussy, and rooted in Canada.