Recipe Post: Raspberry Jam

The second jam I wanted to make after the “kinda blue” blueberry-nutmeg jam was a nice, deep red, to reflect the red in my wedding colours. I looked around for other recipes, but I really had my heart set on the gorgeous, jewel-like colours of raspberry jam. Having made it before, I knew how to make it, how easy it would be, and what to expect.

I had originally hoped to recreate a Raspberry-Chambord jam my classmates and I made in Year 2 of Pastry School, but I was unsuccessful in finding the proper raspberry liqueur, so I left it out and let the razzies I had picked myself and frozen at the peak of their ripeness do the talkin’!

Please excuse the shoddy jam labels; totally my fault. My Photoshop-talented bridesmaid, Katrina, had made some amazeballs labels for all three of the jams, but because I couldn’t decide on my “yellow” jam until it was too late to order the labels, I had to make do with my own unprofessional-looking, hand-printed labels. However, since this *is* my blog, I am giving these labels another chance at celebrity, so all can see her awesomeness!

This is the label she created for me for the raspberry jam:

Awwwriiiight!

So anyway, here is the recipe and the tutorial for making this delicious jam!

Raspberry Jam

Original Source: Bernardin online

Makes about 6 x 250 ml jars

4 cups (1000 ml) raspberries, fresh, or frozen and completely thawed
1 pouch (85 ml) Liquid Pectin
6 -1/2 cups (1625 ml) granulated sugar

Place 6 clean 250 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Heat sealing discs in hot water, not boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.

Push about half of the raspberries through a sieve (not a colander) to separate from the seeds; capture as much of the pulp as you can; discard the seeds. Recombine with unseeded raspberries. If you prefer a totally unseeded jam, you can de-seed the entire amount of raspberries; if you are doing do, I’d add another cup of raspberries to the total, to make up for volume lost through de-seeding.

In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, stir together prepared fruit and all of the sugar. Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add liquid pectin, squeezing entire contents from pouch. Return to boil; boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle hot jam into a hot jar to within 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) of top of jar (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if required, by adding more jam. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner. Repeat for remaining jam.

When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process (i.e. boil filled jars) for 10 minutes.

When processing time is complete, turn stove off, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.