Chocolate Berry Jam 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. Chris Wilson of LunaGrown Fine Gourmet Jam, who created this wonderful recipe, says: “This jam is great for a romantic picnic. It makes a wonderful pairing with Swiss cheese, a sharp white cheddar, or a feta goat cheese. It can also be accompanied by fresh pears and apples, served with a Cabernet and some brown bread. The flavor of the chocolate will increase as the jam sets, so depending on your palate you might taste only a hint at first.”
Notes
Chris’s advice: always boil an extra jar!
If you have skimmed foam along the way, there should be very little on the top of your batch. If you continue to stir with your ladle once heat is turned off, any foam (jam bubbles) will dissipate on its own.
Servings 10 cups
Ingredients
- 1 pound blueberries about 3 cups, mashed
- 1 pound raspberries about 3 cups, mashed
- 2½ cups unsweetened apple juice About 4–6 apples if juicing your own – Chris prefers Roma.
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice bottled
- 3 cups sugar divided
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s pectin powder mixed with sweetener
- 2-3 Tablespoons organic chocolate flavoring Chris uses Flavorganics brand
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.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small saucepan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Pour apple juice into jam pot. Do not skim off foam or strain.
- Add rinsed fruit to jam pot. Add calcium water and lemon juice and mix well.
- Measure 1 cup of the sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Skim off foam. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Skim off foam.
- Add the remaining 2 cups of sugar, stirring well as you add.
- Add chocolate flavoring and stir well.
- When mixture returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat and skim any foam (see note)
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
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