Blue Sunshine Jam
Blue Sunshine Jam is an original recipe by Renée Joslyn of Freakin’ Flamingo jams in So. Miami, Florida. It is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Notes
If you’re not sure if your jam is sweet enough, taste it after the pectin is dissolved and jam has come back up to a boil. Not sweet enough? Add more sweetener and stir 1 minute at full boil.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 2 smaller lemons
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice bottled
- 2 cups mashed blueberries
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- 1 ½-2 cups sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Wash and dry the lemon(s). Cut off the ends and discard. Remove seeds. Cut the lemon(s) into thick slices, cut the slices in half, and pulse in food processor until finely chopped. Add to sauce pan.
- Wash blueberries, remove any stems/debris and mash blueberries. Measure fruit into sauce pan.
- Add water, lemon juice and calcium water to sauce pan, bring to a boil and mix well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Gradually add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
- Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Do you leave the peel on the lemons when you grind them?
Yes, you will leave the peel on. Just remove the ends of the lemons.
If I want to use honey instead of sugar. How much should I use?
You sure can! Here’s a Sugar-Honey Equivalency Table
Note: This is a “more or less” equivalency
½ cup sugar = ¼ cup honey (or other liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup)
¾ cup sugar = 1/3 cup honey (or other liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup)
1 cup sugar = ½ cup honey (or other liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup)
1½ cups sugar = ¾ cup honey (or other liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup)
2 cups sugar = 1 cup honey (or other liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup)
I don’t know if I did something wrong but I tried to double the batch. I used 4 cups of mashed blueberries, 4 cups of water, etc. and it tastes watered down. 🙁
With the 4 cups of water, did you also use the 4 lemons?
Why 2 cups of water in this recipe? Your recipes that come with the pectin don’t have extra water so just wondering. I made though and it’s delicious but more a “sauce” than a jam which I happen to prefer! Thanks, Mona
You are right Mona! We believe this recipe should call for 2 1/2 teaspoons of pectin, not 1 1/2. We have updated it now. Thank you for pointing that out!
I made this once and am making it again today. It is delicous!
I made this recipe today (I used 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup monk fruit sugar) and it is delicious! I’ll definitely be making more. Thank you for a delightful recipe!
Are key limes ok?
Hello Rebecca,
You can replace the lemons with Key Limes and you will need to increase the lemon juice to 1/2 cup.
Happy jamming!
Are Meyer lemons ok to use in this recipe?
Yes, they sure can! You will just need to increase the bottled lemon juice to 1/4 cup. Happy jamming!
How can I use this Recipe and or the other blueberry recipe (blueberry Marmalade) with No sugar Please can you direct me …Thank you
Hello Marilyn,
The first page of our direction sheet has directions for either using juice concentrate or no sweetener at all. Happy jamming!
https://pomonapectin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Pomona-Pectin-Instruction-Sheet.pdf
Can I use blueberry juice instead of mashed blueberries? If so, will that change the amount of pectin that I use?
Hello Zaneete,
You sure can! Yes, you will need to increase the pectin to 3 1/2 teaspoons and the calcium water to 3 1/2 teaspoons.
Happy jamming!
Hi! Super excited to try this. Can you substitute limes for the lemons?
You sure can! That sounds delicious 😊
Made this today and I’m wondering if I mashed properly. Ha ha. Is there supposed to be bits of blueberry skins left? It’s not suppose to be a purée, so I left them. I also “forgot” to add the lemons in the saucepan until after I had added the sugar and pectin. Consequently, the mixture had a bit too much heat and I’m thinking that is why my jell is loose/weak? Could the loose jell also be caused by my mashing issue. It was a mix of purée like and bits of skin. Perhaps I mashed too much or not enough? I put in the correct amounts of pectin and calcium. When it is refrigerated, it jells a little bit more, but is still on the looser side. Is this jam supposed to have lots of bits in it? Anyway, interesting day canning. The Christmas jam turned out phenomenal! One win. One miss. I love lemons and blueberries! Hoping I can figure this out.
I had to try this is for no other reason than the delightful name! Really delicious! Kind of like Blueberry lemonade!
We are so glad you liked it Ellie! It one of our MOST favorites! 😊
I’m sorry I have a few questions, I’m very new to canning. Can you substitute raspberries in place of the blueberries? Could you use frozen blueberries instead of fresh: Can you use 4 ounce canning jars and if so does the processing time change? Lastly can this recipe be halved to make a smaller batch?
Hello Dana, Welcome to the Pomona’s family! Great questions too😊
1. Yes, you can substitute raspberries for the blueberries, that sounds delicious and the acidity would be just fine.
2. Yes, you can use frozen fruit for the cooked recipes. It’s best to use unsweetened frozen fruit. Defrost, but don’t drain, frozen fruit before using. Generally you use the liquid from the frozen fruit along with the fruit unless you notice that there is an excessive amount of liquid, in which case you would ladle off some of the excess liquid before measuring your mashed fruit. If you are going to juice the fruit for jelly, then you would use all of the liquid.
3. 4 or 8 oz jars are what we recommend, and the processing time stays the same for either size.
4. Yes! Any recipe of ours can be halved, or multiplied. Just be sure to adjust each ingredient accordingly.
Happy jamming!
How does 2 cups of berries yield 5 cups of jam?
2 smaller lemons
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons bottled lemon juice
2 cups mashed blueberries
2 teaspoons calcium water
1 ½-2 cups sugar
Between the water, lemons, blueberries and sugar…this recipe will make about 4-5 cups of jam.
Happy jamming!
Do you use the rinds of the lemons?
Yes indeed, you will simply slice the ends off before cutting into chunks and pulsing.
Happy jamming!
This jam is so amazing delicious! We made it both with organic blueberries gleaned from our friend’s farm when his season was over and local lemons using 1 1/2 cups sugar and also replacing the sugar with 3/4 cup local honey.