Children seem to love collecting blackberries, so put them to work gathering the fruit for this jelly. Often blackberry jelly has added spices, but I much prefer the real fruit taste to dominate, so here I have opted for the pure fruit, with just a hint of lemon to help it set.
MAKES: 1lb 10oz jelly
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 pints blackberries
- juice of ½ small lemon
- ¾ cup sugar for every 1 cup of juice
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Place the berries in a preserving pan with scant ½ cup water. Simmer the fruit for 5 minutes until soft, mashing the berries with a wooden spoon.
- Pour the fruit into a jelly bag, suspended over a measuring pitcher to catch the drips, and leave for several hours or overnight until the pulp left in the bag is almost dry.
- Allow ¾ cup sugar for every 1 cup of juice. Add the lemon juice to the blackberry juice and pour into a preserving pan. Add the sugar and stir over a gentle heat until it is completely dissolved, then turn up the heat and boil rapidly to reach setting point.
- Skim if necessary. Pour the jelly into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
