Blueberry Jam with Gin

Homemade Blueberry Jam

Its Summer here in California and Blueberry abound in our local produce market. I grabbed a tray of blueberries while doing our food shopping. Once we got home, I sprung into action made blueberry jam.

I like spreading blueberry over Pancakes or waffles. How do you use blueberries?

Here's a Recipe of Blueberry Jam I got from the book:
Saving The Season, by Kevin West,
page 218
which I used for this project.

Blueberry Jam with Gin

2 pounds Blueberries
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon from Costco) 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon gin

Tools needed:

* Three half pint canning jars
* Thongs to pick jars from boiling water.
* Two large pots
* Water to fill pot for boiling water bath
* Food mill or food processor machine

1. Rinse the blueberries and drain water.



2. Put blueberries in a deep pot over medium fire. Pour 1/2 cup water and allow blueberries to sweat and its skin to rupture about 5 minutes on the fire.





3. Take off pot from the fire and allow to cool down. Pour blueberries in a food processor or food mill and make a coarse puree out of the blueberries. 4. Return blueberries to pot and on high heat setting at the stove. 5. Add Sugar and lemon juice, and cinnamon to the pot.





6. Continuously stir the blueberry mixture until you achieve a jam consistency. Blueberry naturally contains pectin so no need to add any other natural or unnatural source of pectin. Pectin is needed to achieve a thick consistency Gel for the Jam.



7. Meanwhile in a separate pot, sterilize canning jars, lids, and bands in boiling water. Also, put a saucer in the freezer.



8. Drain and dry canning jars, lids, and bands on a dry towel. Meanwhile put a saucer in the freezer. Also, heat a second pot and fill with water for the boiling water bath to be used at a later step.



9. After about 10 minutes, you'll get a thick, and consistent texture blueberry jam mixture as shown below.

10. Add gin to the jam mixture.

11. To test if the jam is ready, do the cold saucer test. Take the saucer out of the freezer. Place a half teaspoon of blueberry jam on the saucer. Return saucer to the freezer for a minute. Retrieve saucer and run index finger through the jam. If jam doesn't run on the trail then jam is ready for canning.

12. Place blueberry jam in jar. Leave a quarter inch space at top also called a headspace. Run a bamboo skewer or chopstick up and down around and on the inner edge of jar to free air pockets.

13. Clean the rim of the jar's mouth and screw in lid on jar. Use slight hand tightness only.

14. Place jars on second pot for boiling water bath. Start your timer only when water is in a boiling state. Soak jars for 10 minutes.



15. Transfer jars with blueberry jam on a dry towel and cool down.